Limelight
by CallMeLy
Summary: You know Zed. You know Eliza, Bonzo and Zoey. You may even know Zevon and Mr Zeck. But don't the other residents of Zombie Town deserve a day in the limelight? A one-shot collection exploring the background zombies (BGZ), with my headcanons for their names, personalities and relationships
1. Chaz and Mackenzie: Pining

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

The BG zombies one-shot collection begins! I've brought them up in previous fics before but just in case you haven't read those and you don't follow me on Tumblr, the BG (background) zombies are the nameless zombie characters in the movie who I have been giving headcanon names and personalities. People seem to like them so I decided to write some stories about them! I'll include a quick description of who's who before each one, but I have reference screenshots on my Tumblr blog (unusual-ly) under the tag #bg-zombies, plus each of them have a tag under their individual names where you can find more info on them

CHAZ: the zombie who shouts "football!" at the start of My Year  
MACKENZIE: the zombie in shorts to the left of the screen in the first chorus of My Year  
MITZI: the long-haired zombie next to Mackenzie in the same shot  
AZURE: the zombie with long braids, wearing green coveralls and grey sleeves  
CORTEZ: the zombie sitting opposite Azure in the first cafeteria scene

* * *

Chaz and Mackenzie

Pining

"Hey, don't look now, but Chaz just walked in."

Mackenzie's eyes went wide as Mitzi took another sip of her drink and glanced past her. She leaned forward across the table. They were sitting opposite one another in one of Zombie Town's only decent cafés. One of its only cafés at all, really. And the only one, so far, that hadn't suffered some damage from one of the more unfortunate visits from the zombie patrol or some human teenagers.

"Is anybody with him?"

"Cortez and Azure." Catching the eye of one of them, Mitzi gave a small wave and a smile.

Mackenzie had to stop herself from turning around, "Chaz?" She couldn't help sounding hopeful.

Mitzi shook her head, "Azure," then put down her cup and propped her chin up on her hand, "He's not looking."

That was all it took for Mackenzie to whip back around. Chaz was at the counter, his back to her, next to his friends. Forgetting herself for a moment, she let out a sigh and tilted her head, pouting. Mitzi rolled her eyes but smiled anyway; she might tease her for it, but as far as she was concerned, her best friend's crush had to be the sweetest thing she had ever witnessed. And soon enough, she was distracted, watching Chaz going to sit down. Her hand was loosely cupped around her bowl of melon eyeballs, and Mitzi knew she was protective of her food. Time to test just how much attention Mackenzie was giving him.

Mitzi stretched an arm across the table, keeping an eye on Mackenzie as she stabbed a fork into a ball and snatched it away.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

 _Wow._

Mitzi sat loudly chewing on the (fruit) eyeball and she didn't even notice. Not until Mitzi laughed at her obliviousness.

"Kenzie, you are _in love_ with that boy."

The look on her face was priceless. She was blushing, as much as a zombie could blush, looking from Mitzi to her bowl and back up again. She gaped at her.

"Did you take one of my eyeballs?!" she hissed and Mitzi nodded, still laughing, "You can't just steal a girl's eyeball when she's busy staring at a cute guy! How could you? You have to buy me something to make up for that now."

"Whatever you say, Ken." Mitzi just shrugged and took another sip from her cup.

For a few minutes, Mackenzie let her thoughts of Chaz go and continued to talk and eat, though she was guarding her melon eyeballs much more vigilantly now. But at some point, she glanced over to Chaz, Cortez and Azure's table. Right as Chaz glanced over to her and Mitzi's. They made eye contact and Mackenzie almost jumped, quickly looking down again. Her heart was beating, still slow but it was enough for her to feel it, and she had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. Was he still looking? She was too scared to find out. Avoiding the temptation to turn her head even the slightest bit, Mackenzie gave Mitzi a pleading look.

"What?"

" _Help…!_ "

"With what?"

"With… _Chaz_ …!"

Mitzi tipped her head to one side, her voice soft but jokingly condescending, "I have no experience with this kind of thing, what makes you think I can help?"

"Because!" Mackenzie spluttered, "You help… _everything_ …!"

Mitzi heaved a dramatic sigh and gently patted Mackenzie's hand.

"I'm sorry, Kenzie. You're hopeless."

If only she had heard the conversation on the other side of the café.

 _Twenty minutes earlier_

Azure, Cortez and Chaz were right outside the café, Chaz poised to open the door, when he saw something, or rather, _someone_ through the window. He froze. Azure and Cortez frowned and looked at each other. Cortez nudged him.

"Chaz? We going in or what?"

Azure took a sweeping glance through the window and slowly nodded.

"Right… Mackenzie's in there."

The mention of her name seemed to snap him out of it.

"Is she? Huh. Didn't notice."

"You're a terrible liar, Chaz."

With that, Azure pushed him out of the way and opened the door. Chaz took a calming breath and followed her and Cortez inside. He forced himself not to look over at Mackenzie while they were at the counter, and that proved difficult when she was _right there_. He did see Azure waving at someone in that direction, though.

"… Mackenzie?"

Azure shook her head, "Mitzi."

Cortez lightly smacked Chaz's arm with the back of his hand. "You're way too obvious, man."

"Hey, I think he needs to be more obvious, if anything," Azure said, "She has to know he's interested."

"How can she _not_ know by now?"

"He keeps avoiding her!"

"Yeah, and it's _obvious_ he's avoiding her!"

"Do you have to talk about me when I'm right here?" They both ignored him.

"Chaz," Azure prodded his chest, "You need to step up, alright?"

"What do you expect me to do? If she wants me, she can come and get me!" he said confidently. But as his friends walked away to sit down with knowing smirks on their faces, Chaz risked turning towards Mackenzie. Luckily, she was busy eating and he took the chance while he had it to just look at her, muttering under his breath, "Please…" before he hurried after Azure and Cortez.

He kept glancing over at Mackenzie the whole time, thinking he was being discreet. Azure smiled and shook her head, but said nothing. Cortez, on the other hand, let out a short laugh.

"You're not fooling anybody, you know."

Chaz scoffed and turned back to Mackenzie, who was looking right at him now. He quickly looked away and Cortez snorted, "Really?"

"Shut up."

He had seen, briefly, when he looked at her, that they were both eating melon eyeballs. Somehow, by some weird law of the universe, that had to be a sign.


	2. Zane and Paizley: The Stand

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Tbh, I love this one. I didn't really think about pairing these characters up at first, but Paizley doesn't appear much in the movie so she doesn't have many interactions to base any relationship ideas off of. But she is sitting at a table by the cauli-brains stand at the start of My Year, so I put her with Zane, the guy who works there, and I ended up having some fun with it. I don't think it's worth putting descriptions for this one, there's only two characters and I feel like it's clear enough who they are

* * *

Zane and Paizley

The Stand

Zane spent his weekends and mornings before school covering his parents' cauli-brains stand in Zombie Town. It wasn't such a bad job to have; the family business was pretty popular and his friends would always hang around to talk while they ate. But his one big gripe with it was how little respect zombies seemed to have for his workspace.

Zed tended to drop muddy footballs on the surface, right next to the food, until Zane decided enough was enough and flat-out banned him from bringing footballs anywhere near. Eliza and Bonzo kept using it as a surface for their computer and keyboard, respectively, but neither of them were doing enough harm to warrant a ban. According to Zane's mom, that is, who would always insist he was overreacting.

Paizley spent her weekends, mornings, and practically any other free time she had wondering around the Zombie Town streets, abandoned buildings and Seabrook's dump, hauling her wagon behind her, picking up any old thing that interested her. Maybe she'd fix it up and put it to use again, or trade it for something else or just keep it as an ornament. And she'd stop at the stand for a snack and a rest and a chat with Zane.

Usually she'd sit down at a table beside the stand, her wagon parked next to her, but sometimes, she felt something was just too special to not show Zane (and anyone else who would listen). And today was one of those days. Her wagon was next to the table, as always, but Paizley was standing right against the front of the stand with some unidentified object in her hands. Zane tried to ignore how close she was – she wasn't quite leaning on it, not disrupting his space or anything. She was safe, for now.

She was idly chatting with Zane as he prepared a fresh batch of cauli-brains for the hungry zombies that would no doubt be flocking to him in a matter of minutes. It was noon, about time for the lunch rush. The thing in Paizley's hands looked like some kind of box with rounded-off edges, encased in plastic. It had to be some kind of electrical appliance or scientific apparatus – there were dials and a switch and what was probably a screen or something underneath all the grime that she kept picking at. There had obviously been a label on it once upon a time but it was half-peeled off and faded now. Maybe it came from the old power plant.

Paizley suddenly got tired of the usual small talk and changed the subject to her latest find.

"Hey, look at this, though. You see this thing? This has gotta be, like, _at least_ fifty years old. You know what that means, right?" she grinned up at him and he raised an eyebrow, the slightest hint of a smile tugging at his mouth, "This was here before the outbreak. This is _pre-zombie_. BZ."

"… What is it?" Zane wasn't all that into this stuff, but he could humour Paizley while he worked. She always got excited about these things.

"I have no idea but I'm gonna figure it out."

And then she made the mistake of resting her elbows on the edge of the stand as she stared down at the box, placing it on the counter. Zane's shoulders slumped and he gave her a flat look, which she didn't even notice.

"Get off the stand, Paizley."

"Hm?" Still not looking.

"Paizley."

She briefly glanced up, "What?"

"Off the stand."

"I'll just be a second, I need a flat surface." She was turning the thing over and over, trying to make out what she could from the torn label or the worn-away lettering on the back.

"There's a table _right there_." He gestured towards it. She kept her eyes down.

"Not the right height," then, out of nowhere, she smiled wide and held the object up, "Hey, this part flips open…!"

Other zombies were starting to appear.

"Paiz, I need that space."

No response. She was fiddling with the little latch-type-thing she had found.

"Look, I got customers, buy or stick or get going."

"Got no money. You wanna trade for something? I found this grill-looking thi-" she stooped down, reaching for something in her wagon.

"No."

Paizley stood upright again with a roll of her eyes, "Pfftt, fine…" and went back to what she was doing.

"… Why don't you sell some of this?" Zane nodded at the wagon, overflowing with random items, "Get some cash."

Paizley gasped in shock and clutched the box to her chest, "Sell my babies?"

"You give them away all the time! Half of Bonzo's sculptures are made from junk he got from _you_."

"We _trade_! They're not junk, they're treasures. I couldn't sell them."

"You don't even know what that thing is."

"Doesn't matter, I love it. Look at it."

She shoved the few stalks of cauliflower in front of her out of the way so she could push the box towards Zane. She did, he noted, keep her hands firmly clamped around it. As if he'd try to take it from her.

"Are you kidding me right now, Paizley?" He indicated the cauliflower she had just moved and the space she was taking up.

"No. It's pretty. Look at it." She was grinning again. Zane just shook his head.

"Why am I friends with you?"

Paizley grinned and dropped the box back into the wagon. She leaned as far across the counter as she could, propping her chin up on her fists so they squished her cheeks. "'Cause I'm adorable!"

"Get off my stand."


	3. Zephyr and Alonzo: Denial

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

So anyone a fan of the best-friends-to-lovers trope? Cuz we're going down that route with these two~ I think Alonzo's one of my favourites, along with Paizley and Izabelle

ZEPHYR: the zombie who catches the football Zed throws right before My Year  
ALONZO: the long-haired zombie next to Zephyr during Eliza's verse in My Year  
RIZZO: the zombie with afro curls and one leg and one sleeve ripped off her coveralls, who gives Bonzo the cauli-brains in My Year  
ROZ: the short zombie in the short-sleeved red shirt, which she swaps with Bree's pink jacket at the block party (uses she or they pronouns)  
ZACH: the zombie next to Zane on "it ain't so bad on this side of the tracks" in My Year

* * *

Zephyr and Alonzo

Denial

"Ya gotta accept it sooner or later."

"There's nothing to accept! Just drop it, Riz."

"Not until you admit you like him."

"No way."

He realised his mistake too late, as that all-too-familiar teasing grin crept onto his sister's face.

"So, you admit there's something to admit?"

"Get out of my head…!"

Zephyr threw his arms up and turned away, storming out of the living room and up the stairs. He pretended he didn't hear Rizzo calling after him.

"You can't deny it, baby, it's twin telepathy. I know all your secrets!"

He slammed his bedroom door shut.

Meanwhile, over on the next block, the subject of their conversation was out enjoying the sun.

Alonzo strolled idly down the street alongside Zach and Roz, a paper bag of potato fingers in his hand. Cauli-brains were fine every once in a while, but Al always preferred his potato fingers and nothing Zane said would convince him otherwise. He'd zoned out, yet again, and lost track of what his friends were talking about until Roz elbowed him and he looked over to them. They were looking back intently.

"What?" he asked around a mouthful of fried potatoes.

"You and Zephyr…?"

Alonzo felt no need to hide his smile at the mere mention of the name.

"What about me and Zephyr?"

"See?" Roz smirked, nudging Zach with their shoulder. Alonzo frowned.

"Yeeaahh, I have no idea what's happening right now."

"Do you ever?"

There was a pause, then, "No."

Zach chuckled and shook his head, "How are you this oblivious to yourself?"

A blank look.

"He's oblivious to everything," Roz said, reaching up to tousle Alonzo's long hair until he batted their hand away, "He'll figure it out someday."

"Figure what out? What are you saying about Zeph?"

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing."

The next day, Alonzo dropped by the twins' place to hang out. He pretty much had free reign to just waltz on in most of the time, it was practically his second home, and he walked in to find Zephyr watching TV. Zephyr turned at the sound of footsteps.

"Hey, man."

"'Sup?"

Alonzo quickly got distracted by the show that was currently on and ended up leaning against the back of the couch, just a couple of feet away from where Zephyr sat, who barely even realised he was tipping his head back to watch Alonzo while he wasn't paying attention. He was more interested in Al's laughing face than whatever it was onscreen for him to laugh at. Until Al glanced over.

"Zeph…?" he didn't respond, " _Yo, Zephyr?!_ "

Zephyr snapped back into reality. "I wasn't staring at anything!"

"I never said you were."

There was a snort from outside the room and both boys turned to see Rizzo with her hand over her mouth, trying to stop herself laughing. Zephyr shot her a glare and she kept on walking. Alonzo turned back to him, confused.

"Something wrong, dude?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"What's Riz laughing about?"

" _Nothing_."

"Alright…" he trailed off and went back to watching the TV before remembering something, "Hey, you were at the plaza this morning, right? Did you get any…?"

"Oh, yeah. Here." Zephyr picked up the backpack he had dropped on the floor only a few minutes before Alonzo came over and pulled out a paper bag, handing it to him. Al moved to stand directly behind Zephyr and when he opened the bag to find his favourite potato fingers, he threw an arm around his neck, resting his chin on top of his head.

" _Nice!_ I love you, bro. You get me."

He stayed like that as he started eating and Zephyr groaned at the salt and crumbs falling on him.

"Dude, gross! If you really loved me, you'd move."

"No, I wouldn't, 'cause I'm not. But I do."

Couldn't argue with that kind of logic.


	4. Izabelle, Riza and Zadie: Terrible Trio

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Sorry for the wait with this, it took me a while to figure out one minor detail (and thanks to Disneyfan50 on Tumblr for finally giving me the idea~!) plus my wifi data ran out on Tuesday and I could only get online on my phone, so I couldn't upload any fics until today :/ I have another BtB written which I'll post either later tonight or tomorrow, and the next chapter of Another Way is just one scene away from being ready (it's still taking me a while to get the Zeddison parallel thing done...) I'm gonna try to get the Big Project started for real within the next couple of days, as well. But for now, here's another one of my fav BG zombies, Izabelle, who I've already mentioned in BtB a lot, having a little fun with her friends~

IZABELLE: the zombie stretching at the start of My Year who Zed spins around, also the dancer at the front during the black light part near the end of BAMM  
RIZA: the zombie with dark hair and red sleeves in Eliza's verse of BAMM, and also when Addison joins in  
ZADIE: the zombie at the front left of the screen during Addison's part in BAMM  
JAZZ (mentioned): the zombie at the front right of the screen, next to Zadie, in the same shot

* * *

Izabelle, Riza and Zadie

The Terrible Trio

Riza and Izabelle had been sitting on Zadie's porch for what seemed like forever. Neither one of them dared to knock on the door – Zadie's parents never liked them being in the house. Their youngest daughter was enough of a handful on her own without her friends there to help her make a mess. She knew they'd be there, anyway, but they were getting sick of waiting when the door finally opened and they both stood.

"Zadie…!"

"Where've you been?"

"Just getting something."

She tossed whatever she was holding over and Izabelle caught it – her sister's baseball.

"… Does Jazz know you took this?"

"Nope."

"Perfect," Riza grabbed it, "Let's go!"

The three of them were ready for some fun, and a baseball could definitely come in handy. Not that any of them knew how to play, of course. But it could certainly do some damage, cause some disturbances and give them a little bit of entertainment.

Breaking another window or two of the old power plant wasn't going to get them into any trouble and it didn't hurt that it blew off some steam for Izabelle and her anger issues. And it was easy enough to switch the ball out for a stalk of cauliflower when Zane was distracted and getting a free snack out of it. They could only shrug and laugh at his irritated expression when Riza did it, with Zadie quickly picking up the baseball from the stand again. It was harmless fun, really. For a little while.

It was getting dark, almost time for curfew, but the girls didn't much care. They were still on the next block from their own, where Izabelle's cousin lived, but evidently he wasn't working on anything outside tonight. Zadie and Izabelle were just talking back and forth until Riza interrupted. She was looking at something past them, clearly something she wasn't too pleased about.

"Oh, so I try jumping the barrier _one_ time and I spend three hours in containment! How much you wanna bet these two are gonna get off without a hitch?"

Zadie and Izabelle swung round to see two human teenaged boys awkwardly trying to get over the wall. The three of them stood there as the humans eventually dropped to the ground and briefly checked that the coast was clear.

Looking thoughtfully at the ball in her hands, Zadie cocked her head, "Hey, d'you think I could get either of 'em in the head if I threw this from here…?" she asked, not getting an answer. The humans had spotted them and, obviously feeling pretty brave, came sauntering over.

Riza sneered, switching to Zombie now that they were within earshot, "Goreez agru zu garzrea? Agru quag zrav?" _Why are they here? Do they have a death wish?_

Despite her joking, she couldn't hide her nervousness. But then, she had every right to be nervous what with the history of human teens coming into Zombie Town. Especially with the way the humans were watching them like animals in a zoo. Still, Riza took the opportunity and gnashed her teeth at them, but it didn't do much – they both jumped but they laughed it off. Izabelle just stared for a second or two, unfazed. She glanced back at her friends, then folded her arms and looked the two boys up and down. She curled her lip as they came closer.

"What, you freaks never seen _real_ people before?"

"They probably can't understand you, man. Their brains can't handle it."

"Can you even talk? Huh?"

"Za?" Izabelle said. Who did these guys think they were, anyway?

"Hey," one of them nudged the other and pointed at her, "I think we found the new team mascot."

"Ha! No way, too much shrimp. Not enough might."

Izabelle's eyebrows shot up and she leaned back. "Gozig? What'd you just say to me?"

"Oh, it speaks English!"

"It's just that band."

With Riza and Zadie behind her now, Izabelle let out a humourless laugh and pointed at her Z-band, "You want the band to come off, drakska?"

All he did was laugh. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." She took a step forward, her right hand going for the Z-band, but Zadie, surprisingly, reached out and lowered her arm.

"Izaka, zongrik…" _Iza, slow down…_ she muttered.

"Gry!" _Shut up!_ Izabelle snatched her arm away but left her band alone. She looked between the two boys and shrugged, "You know what? Fine. You're not worth it. Good luck trying to get back out before the patrol comes."

As she turned away, though, Izabelle felt something hit the back of her head and she paused. A small rock bounced onto the ground next to her, accompanied by the voice of the first human boy.

"Hey, I'm not done with you!"

Faintly growling, Izabelle slowly turned back around to face them as the second one shouted. Her Z-band was starting to faintly beep in warning but these boys wouldn't know what that meant.

"You've got a lot of nerve walking away from us, braindead runt."

She was past the point of no return now and Riza and Zadie knew it.

"Yeah, you wanna know what else I got, drak?" she spat and began to creep closer. She didn't hear her cousin's front door fly open or the footsteps behind her. The beeping was getting faster, louder, "Two fists and unchecked rage!" She lunged for the two humans.

She didn't get very far.

" _Izaka!_ " Suddenly she was up off the ground, Bonzo's arms wrapped securely around her as she struggled to get free. The beeping coming from her Z-band gradually slowed to a stop.

"You never let me do anything fun!"

"Zav," _Stop_ , he hissed, glaring at the humans. It wasn't like he was going to hurt them but he knew he was a lot more intimidating than Izabelle when he wanted to be.

"Grag ag grep zon ru!" _I can handle this without you!_ But the humans had already backed off. Only slightly, though; they had stepped back a few feet at the sight of Bonzo, but they were laughing at her again.

"Aw, the baby's getting cranky! C'mon, let her go. I wanna see her try to fight."

Neither Izabelle nor Bonzo were listening, they were distracted by Zadie and Riza sneaking up behind the humans. Izabelle smirked as she felt Bonzo loosen in his grip at the realisation of what was happening.

"Rizaka-"

Before he could say Zadie's name too, though, Izabelle had slipped out of his hands and ran towards them. There was no warning from the Z-band this time. She had calmed down now and there was nothing for it to detect, but she was still up for a fight just for the hell of it. Once she was directly in front of the boy who had thrown the rock, she stopped, raised her right leg and firmly planted her foot on his chest, kicking him backwards right into Riza, who pushed him forwards again and let him drop to his knees. Zadie, meanwhile, had jumped on the other boy's back, her weight pulling him down to the ground. They both scrabbled to their feet and took off running, finally giving Zadie the chance to throw the ball at them. Riza and Izabelle shrieked with laughter when it hit. Bonzo stood there in shock for a moment but by the time he shook himself out of it, Izabelle, Riza and Zadie were chasing the human boys down the street. His cousin turned her head as she ran and grinned, calling over her shoulder to him.

"Thanks for the distraction, Bonz!" she blew him a kiss and waved, laughing when he scowled, "Love ya!"

He wasn't going to reach them now.

"Regur ru garzrea!" _Go home!_

A patrol jeep appeared in the distance and the three zombie girls immediately decided that was probably a good idea.


	5. Izabelle and Mitzi: Anger Issues

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

I'm really sorry about the distinct lack of fics recently, I've been struggling a bit to get them done but I've been working on multiple fics at once and I've been making some progress~ This is the first one I got done so here, let's revisit two of the BG zombies we've already met separately. This idea came from the fact that Izabelle and Mitzi are stretching outside Zed's house at the start of My Year - with my headcanons, that is definitely Mitzi's idea. So this happened. It's quite short, but there's a lot of stuff to come

Including...

The Big Project...! I've started writing it! I'm a few pages into part 1 (and once I upload it, I can stop calling them "parts" and start calling them what they're actually meant to be called - they're not _chapters_ , really. It's a different format). I'm hoping to get part 1 up this weekend. Does anyone want to take a guess at what the Big Project is...?

* * *

Izabelle and Mitzi

Anger Issues

"Am I supposed to feel different, somehow?" Izabelle narrowed her eyes, more from confusion than from any kind of pain holding her foot against the back of her head might cause her, which was practically none at all. She could do that easily, no problem, but _why_ she was doing it right now still had her stumped.

"It'll take time," Mitzi said, holding the same position on the sidewalk next to Iza, though her eyes were closed and she was smiling softly, "Just relax."

"I don't relax."

She noted Izabelle's dismissive tone and chuckled to herself.

"And we're trying to change that."

Izabelle's face twisted into a grimace. This was so stupid. She wasn't the type who could just let her problems go, she had to take them out on something, or someone. Although her parents, Bonzo, Jazz and almost every other zombie would most likely disapprove. Causing chaos with her friends was a much more satisfying way to get her aggression out without _necessarily_ harming anyone. Yoga was just… boring.

If anything, having to hold these positions only made it worse.

Mitzi finally let out a slow breath, opened her eyes and straightened up. Izabelle followed, with more of an extended, exaggerated sigh of annoyance, then scoffed and threw up her hands when Mitzi bent backwards into a bridge. Iza gave her a blank look but Mitzi wasn't having it.

"Come on. This will help, I promise."

"How much longer are you gonna keep this up?"

"It's barely been five minutes, Izabelle. Just try it."

With a roll of her eyes, Izabelle tipped her head back and let herself fall into position.

"Zragh vak…" she muttered under her breath but Mitzi heard.

"Watch your mouth," she said, somehow snapping even in such a gentle voice, "Cursing isn't going to make this any easier."

Izabelle smirked, "Might make it more fun. You sure as hell aren't gonna do that on your own."

Mitzi just took another calming breath and ignored her. Izabelle dropped her forearms to the ground, letting her legs stretch a little bit further, and pressed her forehead to the concrete.

"I don't wanna _do this_ …!" Her voice started out weak and whiny and ended up all but screaming. She noticed how Mitzi tried to hide her flinch and smiled smugly to herself. Letting out the most obnoxious sigh she could, she collapsed, rolled over and sat up, leaning back on her hands, "I'm done. See ya, Mitz."

As Izabelle picked up her backpack from the side of the road, Mitzi came out of her bridge – like a normal person – and frowned at her as she stretched her back.

"You're not even trying."

"It's not even working."

"It isn't going to work straight away, you have to keep at it until it _does_."

Izabelle's shoulders slumped and she shook her head, throwing Mitzi a mock-sympathetic look, "Do you honestly believe I have the patience for that?"

Because she really didn't, and all of Zombie Town knew that.

"I was _hoping_ this might teach you to be more patient."

"Your hopes, Mitzi, are hopeless," Izabelle patted Mitzi's arm with a sarcastic smile, "Sorry to break it to you."

"Don't you _want_ to stop being so angry all the time?"

Iza shook her head, "Not really."

"Izabelle…"

" _Alright_ ," she groaned, "Fine, if it'll get you to shut up about it, I'll give it another try, just don't expect me to last any longer. And don't expect me to take it seriously. But right now, I'm just gonna head to school."

"Since when do you ever go to school early?"

"Since Zadie learned how to pick the lock on the door to the cheer lounge."

She was already walking away. By the time her words began to sink in, she had started to run.

" _Izabelle…!_ "

Mitzi picked up her own bag and took off after her.


	6. Zeke and Hazen: Priorities

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

I finished this a couple days ago but forgot to post it...! These two never actually appear together onscreen, I paired them up as friends because the personalities I gave them just ended up working well together. This one-shot is also set after the BtB one-shot To Keep You Safe

Part 1 of the Big Project will be uploaded either tonight or tomorrow, depending on how much time I have to write today~

ZEKE: the zombie in red amongst the acrobats (i.e. not regular dancers) in My Year, BAMM and Fired Up Competition  
HAZEN: the zombie boy with short, dark hair who walks past Zed and the others when they see the NO ZOMBIES graffiti

* * *

Zeke and Hazen

Priorities

"All I'm saying is look out for yourself, too, every once in a while," Hazen rambled as he and Zeke made their way through Zombie Town and towards Seabrook, "Not that I don't appreciate you looking out for _me_ , bu-"

Zeke held up a hand, the slightest hint of a smile visible on his face, "Don't sweat it, Hazen, it's not that big a deal."

"You were in containment for a night. And you've _never_ been kept in containment!"

"Neither has Zadie, or Ozzy," Zeke brushed it off, "Besides, if they didn't take me, they'd have taken someone else, and that could've been you."

"See, this is what I'm getting at here, why am I always the priority? If I _do_ need you to defend me at any time, you can't do it if the patrol has you locked up! Or what if someone else was in more trouble than me?"

Despite Hazen's genuine concern over this, Zeke could only chuckle, "What are you, my mom?"

"I'm serious."

"So am I," but he had to give up when he saw Hazen's stern glare, "OK, so I'm a little overprotective of my friends, and you're my best friend. Can you blame me? You never had much luck around humans before and now with the way things are changing, I might possibly be a little on edge."

"Might?"

Zeke nodded.

"Possibly?"

He glanced down at Hazen but quickly averted his eyes to avoid the glare again.

" _A little?_ "

"What is the problem? You're safe, I'm safe, everyone's safe. It was _one night_ , let it go!"

Hazen could only shake his head.

They soon reached the gate and the humans' side of town where other students, human and zombie alike, were already congregating. Things really were changing, almost every little group of people had a fairly even split of humans and zombies. Hazen slowed down when he spotted a select few humans who still seemed to be keeping their distance – all of them cheerleaders. Zeke noticed and stopped beside him, glancing over at the group then back at his friend's nervous expression. Hazen gulped, trying to keep it subtle, but then caught sight of the way Zeke was narrowing his eyes. He was quick to respond.

"I'm getting better with this, you know? You don't _have_ to worry about me all the time."

"Are you, though?" Zeke didn't budge, "Are _they_?"

"Just…" Hazen sighed, "Take it easy, alright? Come on, do you think beating half of the squad to a pulp is gonna help anything?"

Zeke waved a dismissive hand at the offending humans and turned away.

"I'm not gonna do anything to 'em, Haze," he said, turning towards the door, "So long as they stay in line..."

Hazen followed him, looking back at the cheerleaders for a moment. They weren't even trying to hide their disgust at the zombie students. He went to catch up with Zeke.

"You can't say things like that and expect me to _not_ be concerned. I am begging you here, don't do anything that'll make them call the patrol on you."

Zeke didn't answer.


	7. Rizzo and Zane: Business

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Hey, if there's still anyone left who hasn't seen - the Big Project has begun! A fic in the form of a TV series screenplay~ I'll be going for weekly updates so episode 2 should be coming Tuesday night, go check it out~ ^^/

Now we're once again bringing back a couple of BG zombies I've already written about, Zephyr's twin sister Rizzo and her best friend Zane, who works at the cauli-brains stand. I love these two, they have a fun dynamic. And I'm thinking a lot about Zephzo lately (I have some dialogue written for future Limelights with them already and I've been throwing around a lot of ideas on Tumblr) so I couldn't resist mentioning them too

* * *

Rizzo and Zane

Business

She could be a handful at times, but Zane wasn't afraid to admit he sincerely enjoyed these talks with Rizzo. She was pretty much his favourite zombie to be around. Even if she did tend to exaggerate, and obsess, and stick her nose where it didn't belong.

"Why can't you just leave him alone, Riz? We all know they're gonna get together sooner or later."

"Yeah, and sooner or later isn't good enough. Have you seen those two? They can't keep their hands off each other half the time. The truth's gotta come out!," she leaned back on the stand, and shook her head, "I can't take the suspense anymore. Zeph's gonna wear himself out like this."

"Right, it's Zephyr who's gonna wear himself out," Zane's eyes were on the small space on his stand taken up by her elbows, silently warning her that she was pushing her best friend privileges, "How about you stop interfering in your brother's love life and stay out of his business?"

"I'm his twin, his business is my business," she said it like it was obvious.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Zane put down the tongs and gave Rizzo his full attention.

"Do you ever think you might be trying to make up for your own lack of a relationship by living vicariously through Zephyr's?"

Rizzo frowned. "What are you talking about? I don't want a relationship. You know that."

"I know, I know," he held up his hands in defence, taking a moment to choose his words more carefully, "What I mean is maybe you're getting so frustrated over Zephyr and Alonzo because you subconsciously think you _should_ want a relationship, and you're projecting that feeling by insisting that _Zephyr_ should want a relationship."

She leaned across the stand, pointing a finger at him and shooting him a sharp glare.

"Don't you go trying to get all psychological on me, boy," she straightened up again before he could say anything, "Z knows I'm glad I don't have to deal with all that, I'm just sick of watching the two of them avoiding the subject."

He didn't answer, instead he chuckled and went back to work. Rizzo kept talking.

"Besides, Zephyr's not the only one. Alonzo's business is also my business."

"What makes you say that?"

"Please, everybody's business is my business. I don't have a choice, they _make_ it my business."

"But they're not making their relationship-"

" _Lack_ of a relationship."

"Their _lack_ of a relationship your business."

The look on Rizzo's face just screamed 'Oh, honey'.

"I'd say they make it my business when I walk into the living room and see Zephyr with Alonzo practically curled up in his lap or snuggling into his neck."

"I think you're exaggerating."

She laid both arms on the surface and leaned forward, so far forward her feet lifted off the ground. She stared at him as intensely as she possibly could.

"You don't know the things I have _seen_."

"Off the stand," he waited until she had stood up again to continue, "You're exaggerating. If it's going to happen, it'll happen. Let them work it out for themselves."

"You're no fun," she pouted.

The conversation ended and it was quiet for a moment. Comfortably quiet, silence never seemed awkward or empty between them. A couple of customers came to the stand and stopped to talk to Rizzo while they waited for their food, Zane being grateful for the break. Once they were gone, Rizzo sighed.

"You see? People always making their business my business."

"Yeah, well, thank Z I'm immune to that."

"What?"

"I don't make my business your business."

He was surprised when she snorted and bit her lip. She rested her elbow on the edge of the stand, her chin in her hand.

"More than anybody's, Zane, your business is my business."

"Since when?"

Rizzo shrugged, "Since I let you call yourself my best friend."

" _Let_ me?" Zane smirked and quirked an eyebrow. Rizzo returned the look.

"Only the highest ranking zombies are blessed with the title of Mama Bear's Best Friend."

"And what makes me a high ranking zombie, exactly?"

"You give me free food?"

"Try again."

"Dammit," she snapped her fingers, still smiling, "Alright, 'cause you're the only one who doesn't dump all their problems on me all the time. Not that I don't appreciate them trusting me and all, I just need a break sometimes."

"And somebody to dump all of _your_ problems on?"

"Exactly," Rizzo tilted her chin up and gently punched Zane's shoulder, "You get me."

And that's why she was his favourite. Because he could relax around her, and she could relax around him.


	8. Izabelle and Hazen: Defensive

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

A little while ago, I was getting screenshots of Izabelle for A Thing and I noticed something (why I hadn't noticed it before, I don't know, I have watched ZOMBIES way too many times to count). At the start of the pep rally scene when the zombies are arriving, Izabelle and Hazen link arms and after posting it on Tumblr, wondering if they should be friends, a couple or Izabelle should be another protector for Hazen like Zeke is, and talking to krut09 about it, I ended up shipping them. Then krut09 asked me to write a "little short" (her exact words) about how Izabelle acted around Hazen after she realised she liked him. This really was meant to be short. But I just really love writing Izabelle...

I have a bunch of other Limelights in the works right now, and a BtB. And I have an idea for a one-shot about Bucky ^^

 **EDIT** : The Hazabelle ship was changed to a friendship and this one-shot has been rewritten!

* * *

Izabelle and Hazen

Defensive

 _From her right: "What is up with you? It's_ Hazen _!"_

" _I know."_

 _And from her left: "He's, like, the_ weakest _kid in Zombie Town."_

" _I_ know _."_

 _Right again: "So, why are you hesitating?"_

" _I'm not hesitating, I'm saying no."_

 _And left: "Don't tell me you like him."_

" _Not the way you're thinking."_

 _Right: "Since when were you friends with the gralzig?"_

" _Who said we were friends? I don't like him_ that _much."_

" _Then what's the hold up? This is a golden opportunity, Iza. He's pretty much the only one you haven't taken a shot at before."_

" _Riza! I. Know. OK? I'm aware of all of this. But I'm not doing it."_

" _Not even now that Zeke's distracted?"_

 _Izabelle scoffed, "This has nothing to do with him, I'm not scared of Zeke!" she folded her arms in defiance and gestured towards Hazen, sitting on the edge of the street content to just watch Zeke and his other friends run back and forth – doing parkour, apparently, "I get it! He's super vulnerable right now. It'd be so easy," she snorted, "It'd be easy any time, though, let's face it, but I just don't see why I need to. What's it gonna prove to take out the weak link?"_

" _When was it ever about proving something?" Zadie asked, frowning._

" _Ugh, come on, where is the fun in beating up someone who can't put up a fight?"_

" _Who even_ are _you?" Zadie shook her head in disbelief._

 _Izabelle looked back at her, thinking. It really wasn't like her to be so considerate of anyone, besides maybe Bonzo. Not even Riza and Zadie could guarantee she'd always go on easy on them. She glanced over at Hazen again. It just seemed... mean._

 _What was she feeling right now? Sympathy?_

 _... Gross._

 _But that was it. Just sympathy. They weren't friends. No way._

Ever since that conversation a few days ago, Izabelle had been on edge. She didn't usually _like_ people. She tolerated people, at best. Bonzo, Riza and Zadie were the only ones lucky enough to be able to say Izabelle genuinely cared about them. Roz got a pass because they were just too lazy to ever provoke her. It wasn't that easy for her to get along with other people, and it was frustrating to think someone might manage to weasel their way into her little circle. Why would she let someone like Hazen in?

He wasn't like her – Riza had been right to say he was the weakest kid in Zombie Town. So, why, for the love of Z, didn't she ever feel the urge to take out a single speck of her overflowing rage on him?

He didn't make her angry, that's all. Just because they could actually have a conversation where Izabelle wouldn't inevitably fly off the handle didn't mean they were friends. And what did it matter if he actually tried to offer some help when she started to get stressed? Or made the effort to talk to her?

... OK, so maybe – _maybe_ – she wasn't so opposed to the idea of calling Hazen her friend. But Riza and Zadie didn't need to know that.

The trio were sitting at a table outside the café at the front of Zombie Town's shopping plaza. Back before the outbreak, this had been a thriving place of business but now more than half of the building was in ruins and the rest of it was prone to power outages and vandalism. The café, despite the broken glass in the window and the flickering lights overhead, was a fairly popular hangout spot. They weren't even sure the owners were legally allowed to operate it, or own it for that matter, but decent work was scarce for them.

Izabelle was getting bored, absentmindedly stirring what was left of her bloodshake (fake blood, of course, edible fake blood) with her straw.

There was only two chairs and Zadie had opted to perch on the edge of the table, one foot flat on the surface – with no regard for health and safety protocol – and the other swinging back and forth as she watched zombies pass. Then, out of nowhere, she reached over and violently shook Izabelle's arm.

"Look."

Hazen was just a short distance away from the plaza with Zeke. They paused at a store window across the street and Riza and Zadie shared a smirk, which did not go unnoticed.

"What are you thinking?" Izabelle scowled at them and Riza leaned back in her seat.

"Hey, if you don't wanna have any fun, that's your problem, but we're not passing up an opportunity."

"Leave the guy alone, Riza. He never did anything wrong."

"Oh, but we sure will."

Zadie took a deep breath and opened her mouth.

"Haz-"

But in a matter of seconds there were hands muffling her voice and she was slammed backwards onto the table, Izabelle looming over her.

"Don't you dare!"

To the side, Riza was stifling her laughter. Izabelle shot her a death glare but it did nothing.

"OK, you wanna know something? I've been thinking about this. Hazen has taken a lot more from the humans than any of us. He has a hard enough time as it is and he doesn't need me to add to that. And unless you wanna pick a fight with me, I suggest you don't either."

Riza snorted, "You're not going soft on us, are you?" She prodded Izabelle's cheek.

That only made Izabelle groan and drop her face into her folded arms on the table. The other two could barely hear her, buried in her sleeves as she was, but it wasn't hard to figure out what she was saying.

"Gry, gry, gry, gry, gry…!"

"Hey, relax!" laughed Zadie as she nudged Izabelle, "It's just surprising is all. So, what, does this mean you'll be friends-" she stopped short when Izabelle curled her lip, "... You'll _get along_ with Zeke, now, too?"

Izabelle sat up, but kept her eyes down.

"I _respect_ Zeke. He's my rival as the toughest kid in Zombie Town. But that's it. Hazen, though..." she trailed off and tipped her chair back slightly, rocking it back and forth, "Normally, I don't care if someone gets hurt. And even better if I'm the one doing it. As long as it's not either of you or my cousin. But that makes sense, you two have been my best friends for years and Bonzo's my _cousin_. Hazen..."

"Is a wimp?"

Izabelle slammed her fist on the table, "You want me to jam this down your throat, Zadie?" she threatened her with the straw.

"I'm kidding!"

"Yeah, you better be," she stabbed the straw back into the thick, bloody beverage and kept stirring, "Yeah, OK, Hazen is kind of a wimp. But that's just it! He's too innocent. I couldn't do it. He's like a puppy. No bite, no bark. Nothing! I don't think I know anybody else like that. He wouldn't stand a chance," she hesitated to continue, obviously confused by her own words, "I'd actually feel... _bad_ if I hurt him."

Zadie leaned across the table and pointed at her, "OK, seriously, who are you and what have you done with Izabelle?" She snatched her finger away when Izabelle tried to bite it.

"So..." Riza furrowed her eyebrows, "You don't _like_ him, you're not _friends_ with him, what _is_ he to you, then?"

Izabelle didn't respond straight away. She sat with her head in one hand, watching the straw cut through her shake.

"Iza?"

She gritted her teeth. _Let me think!_

"Izabelle?"

" _I don't know!_ " she almost cried and screwed her eyes shut, "I need to _break something_."

"If you smashed the glass, they'd make you pay for it..." Zadie said.

Izabelle picked it up anyway.

"Izabelle...?" said an all-too-familiar voice.

She stopped dead as Hazen walked over and Zadie and Riza watched, curious. Zeke was standing a few feet away watching Izabelle like a hawk. In an instant, her face fell and she calmly put the glass back down.

"What do you want?" she demanded and immediately felt guilty. Then irritated that she _could_ feel guilty. Then worried that Hazen, or even worse, Zeke, could tell she felt guilty. Maybe he wouldn't notice it under the sharpness of her tone.

"Um..." he shot a quick glance back at Zeke, who's gaze remained fixed on Izabelle, then gave her a nervous smile, "A-are you OK?"

"I- What?" she could only stammer and frown.

"It's just, you seemed kinda... upset about something?"

"You _care_?" her eyebrows shot up. She was... touched, to say the least, but she wasn't exactly the best at showing that. She probably came off as more irritated.

"I mean, yeah, I guess?" he looked at the glass she had just put down, "... Were you gonna smash that?"

" _No,_ " she said, definitely way too quickly. She saw Riza open her mouth and whipped around to glare at her, making her bite her lip and turn away.

"Are you sure?" Hazen asked, genuinely concerned. And it was infuriating, "You looked really-"

 _Do something. Get rid of him._

"Hazen?" she said in a pleasant tone and with a slight tilt of her head. Her expression stayed neutral.

"Yeah?"

"You're gonna walk away now," she gave him an encouraging (threatening) nod. Her face stayed the same.

"But, I-"

Her features grew dark in less than a second.

"10, 9, 8, 7..."

Hazen turned and hurried away before she got any further. Zeke shot her a cold glare and was about to say something but Hazen latched onto his arm and dragged him along with him. Izabelle propped her elbows up on the table again, squeezing her head between her hands. She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. She already felt bad. Why did she have to feel bad? _Am I really doing this?_

If she was, she had better do it soon.

"Hazen!" she called out without looking up, silently cursing how harsh she sounded, "Get back over here."

He turned, confused, and started walking back when Zeke stepped in front of him.

"He doesn't have to answer to you, Izabelle. Back off."

"Relax, _Zeke_ ," she sneered, "I'm actually trying to be nice here. This is a rare occurrence. Be grateful you're here to see it."

"Hazen?" Zeke raised an eyebrow. All he got in return was a slight shrug as Hazen turned his attention back to Izabelle.

"What's up?"

"You're off the list. You're safe," she said, ignoring the way her friends were staring at her, "So, if you need someone looking out for you, I'm there."

Zeke answered before Hazen could, "Yeah, thanks, but that position's taken."

"Aw, you jealous?" she pouted mockingly at him, "You can't always be around. Don't you have a little brother and sister to take care of? And other friends?"

Hazen nudged Zeke's arm, "She has a point."

Zeke's shoulders slumped and scoffed, "You have got to be kidding me, Haze, why would you trust her?"

"Why shouldn't I? Honestly, I can't think of a single time she's given me a reason not to."

Zeke didn't have an answer to that and Izabelle gave him a smug smile, "Can't I do a good deed for somebody every once in a while?"

"More like once in a lifetime..." he muttered under his breath.

Her smile was gone, "What was that?"

"Fine! Whatever! But I've got my eye on you."

As Zeke stormed off, Hazen gave Izabelle an apologetic smile.

"He'll come around. But thanks," he waved as he went to follow Zeke, "See you around!"

With them gone, Izabelle took a long sip of her bloodshake and refused to look at either Riza or Zadie. It was silent for a few seconds until she broke.

"What? If I can't bring myself to hurt someone, I am _not_ letting some other drak fly in and steal my thunder."

"... You made a friend!"

"Zadie, I swear to Z, one of these days I am going to snap your neck."


	9. Zephyr, Alonzo, Zach and Roz: The Band

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't. The song Sometimes is by Bowling For Soup.

What's this? Two Limelight one-shots in one day? Well, I managed to get this one done before I went to bed so I thought I might as well~ A little more of my favourite BGZ boy (Alonzo) and his friends (and future boyfriend but also best friend). This is a headcanon I've been talking about on Tumblr, once again with krut09, because I have theme songs picked out for all of the BGZ (individually and for relationships) and these four all happen to have songs by my favourite band, Bowling For Soup. Zeph and Al also have a couple of songs for their ship by BFS, including the song Sometimes for Zephyr about Al ^^

Another Way should be the next update, probably tomorrow~

* * *

Zephyr, Alonzo, Zach and Roz

The Band

Alonzo was sitting on the floor of Zephyr's room with his back against the bed and, as usual, his hand in a bag of potato fingers. Zephyr's legs dangled off the edge beside him, while the rest of him (still attached to the legs, mind you) was lying lazily on top of the bed, guitar in hand. He was strumming the strings and trying to remember the chord progression he'd been learning.

"How long has Bonzo been teaching you now?"

It was Bonzo's guitar, technically. Zephyr had been considering learning to play an instrument for a while, after Roz had taken up drumming, and Bonzo was more than happy to help him. He strummed again and repositioned his fingers when he hit a bum note, feeling the covers shift where Alonzo tipped his head back to look at him.

"I dunno," he said, his eyes fixated on the strings, "A couple months?"

"You think he'd teach me?"

Zephyr glanced at him, "Yeah, if you wanted," he sat up, resting an arm over the guitar, "But since when were you interested in playing music?"

"It looks cool," Alonzo said with a shrug, "And I can sing, so."

"What does that have to do with it?"

He didn't get an answer, instead Al turned around to face him, propping his elbow up on the bed. And he had that look in his eye that told Zephyr he had some dumb and/or crazy idea in mind.

"We should start a band!" He pointed between the two of them.

"... Just us?" Zephyr wasn't so sure.

"Roz plays drums, don't they?"

"So, us and Roz?" still reluctant, but he couldn't help smiling. Alonzo's smile was contagious, "What about Zach?"

They couldn't leave him out. _If_ they did start a band.

"He could learn something from Bonzo, too."

Al was already getting excited. Zephyr looked away and bit his lip.

 _Nope. No beating hearts today, thanks. Calm down._

"Don't expect too much of him, Al, the guy's gonna have enough on his plate if he's teaching you and me," Zephyr chuckled, trying to ignore how cute Alonzo looked pouting, "Are you actually serious about this? What would we even play? Are you gonna write our songs 'cause I ain't got the time for that."

"I was thinking, more like a cover band..."

Sighing, Zephyr flopped back on the bed. "If you say Bowling For Soup..." he muttered.

"... Of Bowling For Soup."

"Stop trying to force your weird music taste on everybody else!" Zephyr tried to sound annoyed, but he really just found it funny and Alonzo laughed with him, gently punching his arm.

"C'mon, Zeph, you like 'em, too."

"Not nearly as much as you, Al."

Alonzo ignored him, turned around and went back to digging through the bag of fingers, "And so do Roz and Zach."

"That doesn't mean they'd want to be in a cover band..."

He trailed off as he realised Al was zoning out again, completely forgetting about the potato finger he was holding to his mouth.

"Al...?" Zephyr leaned down and waved a hand in front of his face. No reaction.

"BFS... BF _Z_..." he was saying under his breath.

"As in 'Bowling For Zom-'"

"Zoup..." Alonzo whispered, staring into space.

"Not... 'Zombies'?"

" _Zoup_." He was off in his own little world. Of potato fingers and "zoup", apparently.

"Well," Zephyr said flatly, "I've lost you. No changing your mind now. Let's just hope you can convince the guys to do it."

\- LIMELIGHT –

"I'm calling bass now!" were the first words out of Zach's mouth.

"Wait, what?"

They had walked across to Roz's place where, as it turned out, Zach already was. Roz herself was lounging on the beanbag chair at the foot of her bed.

"Bass guitar! If you already got guitar, drums and vocals, we just need a bass player and that pretty much covers BFS," he shrugged, "Then again, they do have a piano in a few songs but we can do without. Bonzo plays bass, too, right?"

"Dude, he plays _everything_ ," Alonzo said.

"You're already agreeing to it-"

"Roz, you in?!"

"I am _so_ in," came the half-muffled response from the zombie face-down in the beanbag. She lifted her head and propped herself up on her forearms, "No way you guys are doing this without me!"

"You guys realise Alonzo and Zach still need to actually learn to play music first?" Zephyr reminded them.

"Yeah?"

"And that it'll take time."

"Yeah."

" _And_ that we have to learn to play _together_ , as a group?"

"Yeah!"

" _And_ agree on which songs we're gonna start with?"

"Easy, we start with what _you_ already know."

Zephyr narrowed his eyes at Alonzo, who was smiling teasingly at him.

"What... _I_ already know...?" he leaned back ever so slightly.

"Don't think I didn't recognise what you were playing before."

Zephyr kept a perfectly straight face. Which only made it obvious he was lying, seeing as nothing about him had ever been straight. In fact, nothing about any of them was straight. He shouldn't have even tried.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

" _You talk too much for me to figure out my motivation_ ," Alonzo sang, edging closer to him with his trademark grin, " _Don't you know that you're the only one?_ "

Zach and Roz were right behind him, " _Sometimes!_ "

" _It's not the things you say, sometimes you're just in the way,_ " Al threw an arm over Zephyr's shoulder and pulled him closer," _Sometimes I feel like I can't li-_ "

"OK, OK, OK...!" Zephyr shoved him off and all four of them laughed, "Yes, I already know one song."

"One?" Alonzo smirked and behind him, Zach and Roz shook their heads.

"... Or, like..." he avoided meeting any of their eyes, "... Five... ish..."

"I knew it."

"Are we doing this or not?" he didn't bother trying to hide his smile now.

"We're doing it!"

"Hands in...!" Roz counted down and-

" _Bowling For Zoup!_ "

"We're seriously keeping that name?"

" _Yes!_ I'm a comic genius."

"... Sure you are, Al."

 _You've got to know by now,_ Zephyr thought to himself, _I can never say "no" to you..._

\- LIMELIGHT –

Zephyr felt a hand on his arm right as he was walking out the door and he stopped.

"Any reason you were learning Sometimes?" Roz asked with a knowing smile. Alonzo had followed Zach out already and the two of them were standing just a short distance away.

Zephyr avoided looking her in the eye, "It's a good song."

"It doesn't remind you of anybody...?" she nodded in Alonzo's direction and wiggled her eyebrows.

He made sure Al hadn't seen – luckily, he was busy talking to Zach – and glared at Roz.

"Shut up."

Laughing and shooting him finger guns for good measure, Roz headed back inside while Zephyr rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Alonzo, who was caught up in the middle of some animated conversation. Most likely about the potential musical mess they could be about to get themselves into. But Zephyr quickly forgot about all that as he let his mind wander, his eyes never leaving the look of pure joy on his best friend's face. There wasn't a single doubt as to why he had wanted to learn that song.

 _Sometimes I feel like I can't live without you..._


	10. Paizley: Memory

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

It's been way too long, I'm sorry...! It's been hard to find the time to write without falling asleep at my laptop lately. The TV series fic hasn't been updated in ages... I'm struggling to figure out episode 4, but hopefully it'll be coming soon. And I recently came up with a new, very angsty story idea involving Zephzo. It'll be a while before I get to that, tho. Oh, and I'm sorry about this but there won't be any more Hazabelle. The ship kind of lost its momentum and I can't find a way to make it work with the characters I have for Izabelle and Hazen, but krut09 might write a sort of AU for Hazabelle at some point. I'll be rewriting their one-shot when I get the chance so they're friends instead, I should be able to work with that

Onto this one-shot! I love me some angst and I've had ideas for angsty stuff for 2 of my 3 fav BGZ, Izabelle and Alonzo, but I couldn't find a way to make my other fav, Paizley, anything but a little ray of sunshine. Krut09 suggested an idea and it spiralled into this mess. Paizley's tragic backstory. I'll apologise now. The idea for her parents' job is from keepswinging~

AZALEA: the zombie cleaning off the graffiti outside Eliza's house in My Year, Eliza's older sister

* * *

Paizley

Memory

Paizley was a beacon of positivity in Zombie Town. A slightly weird big-sister-figure to all the zombie teens (though even more so to Zed and Zoey); cheerful, friendly, creative and just a little bit eccentric. But everyone remembered the one day, years ago, when they saw her broken seemingly beyond repair, crying and screaming in the street. Nothing more than a child and yet so cruelly hurt. Everyone remembered.

Everyone but Paizley herself.

Her love for the old and unusual began with her parents – they both worked at Seabrook's recycling plant, one of the few in-town jobs offered to zombies by the humans. In fact, it was an exclusively zombie-only job. And since so much of what they came across was unwanted, despite being perfectly usable and just in need of a quick fix, because of the town's horrendously high standards, they would bring things home often.

There was nothing Paizley loved more than seeing a new pile of miscellaneous objects on the kitchen table when she got home from school. Every so often, they might let her help with fixing the broken items and it fascinated her. They taught her about all the intricate little details that went into their creation and it became a passion of hers that would last for the rest of her life.

What few things did end up unusable in the end, Paizley would recycle herself into an ornament in her room. Sometimes, she even turned them into sculptures that, despite confusing the other zombies her age, she loved with all her heart. She poured everything she had into her work. Studying their history and uses, crafting her masterpieces and arranging them just so in her bedroom. The rest of the house was filled with the things her parents fixed up but her room was her treasure trove. They were comforting, a constant in her life she could always rely on. Whenever Zed came over with his parents, she would try to show him and teach him how everything worked, or how they were made or where they came from, but he never seemed interested. He didn't understand why all these old things were so precious to her. But they were.

They _were_...

\- LIMELIGHT –

The day it happened started out perfectly normal, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Paizley had been home from school for an hour or so and was tinkering away at her latest project up in her room when she heard a knock at the front door, loud and authoritative. She ignored it, knowing her mom or dad would answer it and besides, she was busy. But then came the sounds of arguing, one of the voices being her mother's, and Paizley paused to listen.

"You can't ju-"

There was a slam as the door hit the wall. Footsteps. More voices. Her mother's desperate pleading. Her father asking what was going on. It was enough to bring Paizley out of her blissful state and send her running to the top of the stairs. The sight she was met with made her freeze and she dropped the screwdriver she didn't even know she was still holding.

The zombie patrol. She counted at least five officers but they were moving around so much and so quickly she couldn't be sure. And they were taking things. In and out of the house, taking more and more. Everything her family had put so much care into repairing and restoring, gone. Her parents tried to reason with them or even stop them but they wouldn't relent. Paizley stood there with no clue what to do.

"Check upstairs."

Two of the officers were suddenly on the staircase and Paizley backed up. They split up in opposite directions and when one of them passed her, he forcefully shoved her aside and stormed into her room. The panic set in and Paizley followed him without thinking.

"Don't...!"

He wasn't listening. He stooped down to pick up the pieces of the toy she had been fixing, then moved on to the shelves and took all he could carry. Paizley reached for whatever she could but to no avail.

"They're mine! Give them back, they're mine!" She was crying now.

She ran down the stairs after him, until the second officer came from behind and knocked her down as she overtook her. Paizley stumbled down the last few steps and scrambled to her feet.

"Paizley...!" her mom called out to her but she didn't stop.

She followed the officers out the door, where other zombies were looking on in concern and confusion. Her cries became screams as she all but clawed at their arms in a weak attempt to get her treasures back.

"Stop! Stop, they're mine...!"

Her mom had chased after her, "Paizley, don't-" she cut herself off when she saw an officer whip out a walkie-talkie.

"We have an unstable zombie at the scene, may require backup."

Her eyes were wide as her daughter kept screaming and grabbing at the things stolen from them, oblivious to the man approaching her and the device he had just pulled from his belt.

"No...!" she ran towards him, her hands out in front of her, "You can't, she's just-"

A bolt of electricity coursed through Paizley's body and everything seemed to come to a halt. A scream tore itself from her throat and she collapsed, the voices around her grew faint and fuzzy, and her vision blurred. For a few seconds, she was limp, stunned.

Someone grabbed her and she began to struggle, not even caring when she realised it was her dad lifting her off the sidewalk. The world felt like it was closing in and his arms around her only made it feel worse. He was whispering to her, trying to calm her, asking if she was in pain, but her brain couldn't process the words. She just pushed against his chest, shaking her head almost violently.

"What did you do?!" her mom was shouting but none of the officers were listening, "Why would you do that to a child?!"

One of them took hold of her arms, forcing her back as the others were still moving between the house and the jeeps.

"If you continue to resist, zombie, you will be arrested."

But she couldn't keep fighting anyway. Not after what she has just seen. Not after what they did to her daughter.

It didn't take much longer for the patrol to leave, and with most of the family's collection stowed away in their vehicles. By then, Paizley had stopped fighting against her father's grip and instead was curled up in his arms, tears staining her cheeks and her body shaking. She could barely think. She was transferred over to her mother but had no energy left to keep struggling and could only shake her head again, like she could shake all the bad feelings and bad thoughts out.

Across the street, a door opened and Zed stood watching as his parents ran to their friends. From a couple of houses down, Zinnia appeared, closely followed by her husband, while their own daughters waited at the door with fear in their eyes. Azalea kept her arms wrapped tightly around Eliza's shoulders and they shared a look with Zed. Azalea, being a year older than Paizley, had some understanding already of what the zombie patrol was and what they could do, but her sister and her friend were still far too young to wrap their heads around it.

"Paizley? Paizley, honey, can you hear me?" Zinnia asked, her voice low and her hands gingerly combing through the girl's hair, "Oh, dear Z, you poor child..."

All she could do in response was whimper. The adults spoke soothingly to her, doing what they could to ease her pain, but this wasn't the end of it. The day was far from over.

\- LIMELIGHT –

Paizley refused to go upstairs. She didn't want to face the emptiness of her room, stripped bare of all its wonders on display. But sitting there in the living room while her parents discussed the matter wasn't much better. The whole house felt empty. Everything was wrong. All she could do was sit with her head down, toying with her hair where she would usually have some kind of toy or gadget to fiddle with to keep her grounded. But they were all gone. And she was silenced. She had nothing to say. Nothing to talk about. That was wrong, too. There was always something for Paizley to talk about. Where had all of her words gone?

Someone had tipped the patrol off. They found out her mom and dad had been "stealing" things from work. Even if they had been thrown out and were no longer wanted, everything they had collected was apparently still considered property of Seabrook's city council – property of the _humans_ – therefore they had the right to take them away. It made no sense. Nobody wanted them, they were to be recycled. What were this family doing if not recycling them? What harm had been done?

But Paizley didn't have the answers to those questions.

\- LIMELIGHT –

It was almost time for curfew and Paizley hadn't moved from the living room when she heard the unmistakable screeching sound of the barrier opening down the street. She finally stood up, her legs numb and shaky, and made her way over to the window. She pressed her nose to the glass and she could just barely make out the shapes of the patrol jeeps. A quick glance at the clock on the wall told her they were early.

"M-Mommy...?"

It was the first thing she had said since the incident that afternoon and both her mom and dad soon appeared when they heard her. They crouched by her side, staring intently at her.

"What is it, sweetheart?"

Paizley just turned back to the window and pointed.

"Early..."

Her words weren't completely back yet, it seemed. When they looked and saw what she was referring to, her father immediately hugged her close and tried to keep her out of sight. But Paizley, unable to resist her own curiosity, planted her feet firmly on the ground and wouldn't be moved. Not until she understood what they were doing.

They parked right outside of their house. Zombies froze in the street while others hurried to peak out their own windows as the officers stepped out from the jeeps and moved round to the backs. The doors were flung open and various items were brought out. They dropped them on the ground in full view of Paizley and her parents. And that was intentional, her mother would swear one of them locked eyes with her briefly. Paizley returned to the window.

"Mine..." she managed to say, growing louder, "They're mine... They're mine...!" She banged a fist on the glass and her mom quickly pulled her hand down.

She was right. Almost everything that had been taken before was back. But that didn't make sense.

One officer – the same man who had no qualms pulling out his taser on a child – stepped away from the growing pile and let his colleagues finish the job, whatever that job was. He cast his gaze up and down the street.

"It has been brought to the attention of the zombie patrol that certain zombies in this area have been stealing property from Seabrook's recycling plant, instead of doing their _job_. So tonight, there will be a little demonstration before curfew. This is what happens when you zombies step out of line."

Chunks of wood and balled up sheets of newspaper were added to the pile, and a circular metal guard was set up around it.

A bonfire.

The officer who had made the announcement took a box of matches from his pocket and lit one. He held it up as the last few zombies who were still outside rushed into their homes, clearly enjoying their fear-stricken expressions. Then he threw the match and let the flames slowly devour Paizley's treasures.

She would have run outside and tried to pull them from the fire, with no consideration of the danger she'd be putting herself in, if it hadn't been for her mom and dad holding her tightly while she cried.

She didn't say a word for the longest time. Her parents had to guide Paizley through her daily routine while she hardly even looked at them. She wasn't taking anything in. She was barely responding. She still wouldn't go into her bedroom and slept in between them that night. But they couldn't sleep themselves. They were too worried.

It wasn't until a few days later, when her dad happened upon some old trinkets and gadgets at the junkyard. They couldn't try and claim _those_ were property of the council, could they? At least it would be harder to track them. Paizley finally slept in her own bed again, surrounded by the cluttered mess of plastic, metal and tools. She rebuilt her collection from the ground up. They never talked about the night of the bonfire.

Years passed by – Zed's little sister was born, their mother passed away and Paizley regularly babysat the two younger zombies. Her parents had pulled her out of school in favour of home-schooling instead, so they could stay close to her. Zed had been warned not to bring up the incident, and he never did. It wouldn't have mattered all that much if he did, though. She didn't remember a thing; the memory was buried deep in her subconscious. She was back to her usual, cheerful self.

Even if she did always find herself watching from the front door as the patrol passed by at curfew. Something inside her still feared that they might stop right outside.


	11. Chaz and Mackenzie: Overthinking

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Finally, _finally_ , we're back to the pair that started it all! I've been meaning to write some more Chanzie but tbh this one doesn't have much more progress with them but Chaz is adorable and awkward and I love him~ I have 3 other Limelights in the words atm, and that super angsty Zephzo fic is certainly... happening... I guess the TV series will stay on hold until I can find the time to figure out the next episode plot properly, sorry about that :/ I now have voice headcanons for most of the BGZ and more should be coming soon! Check my BG zombies Tumblr tag for the post. Anyway, here's a little bit of Chaz and his Big Dumb Crush ^^

Btw, it's 8:30am here. I almost finished this last night but I was falling asleep again so I decided to quickly finish it when I woke up~ I might get another Limelight out later today!

* * *

Chaz and Mackenzie

Overthinking

The problem was that she was always around people. He wasn't surprised – Mackenzie was an all-around nice person, not to mention funny, an amazing dancer and really, _really_ pretty. Mitzi was almost always at her side but sometimes Azure and Inez, or Rizzo and Zane might be with them, too. And now with the way things were going, she was hanging out with humans as well. Well, they all were, really. Even Hazen had been warming up to them, and Chaz himself had made a few human friends. But he couldn't help wishing he could get a moment alone with her.

Then again, what exactly was he supposed to do once he did? With how much effort Chaz put into trying to be all cool and suave (way too much), you'd think he could at least say more than two words to his crush. Literally two words. Like, he actually got the opportunity to talk to her that morning in the hallway but he should have known it was too good to last.

"Hey, Kenzie!" he had grinned and waved at her as he passed by with Cortez.

Mackenzie had smiled back, twirling a lock of her hair, "Hi, Chaz!"

Hair-twirling. That was, like, flirting 101, right? And that smile seemed just the slightest bit shy. Definitely flirting. Possibly. Wait, she just looked down... _wait for it_... and back up. Right at him. Still smiling. Still shy. (She _was_ being shy, wasn't she?) Was he reading too far into it? He was totally reading too far into it.

"Aaaand, you missed your shot again."

Chaz whipped round to see Cortez shaking his head disappointedly.

"What?" he turned back and Mackenzie was suddenly talking to Mitzi and a couple of humans who had just appeared. He'd zoned out again, "Oh, come on!"

"You're never gonna get anywhere like this."

"Are you kidding me?" he instinctively broke out the (painfully cringe-worthy) cool-guy act, "Did you even see her just now? I've got her wrapped around my little finger."

Then he turned and started down the hall. Cortez followed with a sigh, only for Chaz to retreat a little and peak back around the corner he had just turned to get another glimpse of Mackenzie. He looked at Cortez with his eyebrows furrowed, and Cortez stared blankly at him.

"Is it too late to go back?"

"Not at all."

Chaz paused, taking another glance at Mackenzie talking and laughing with her friends. He couldn't. Could he? ... _Should_ he? He didn't know when he would get another chance. But maybe it would be easier to wait till they were back in Zombie Town rather than here. Although, it could be just as easy to wait for her by the door after school. Or even-

Cortez's hand came down on his shoulder and pushed him forward. Chaz realised what he was doing and jumped back.

"Don't...!" he shouted, quickly calming himself before continuing, "... rush me. I've got this."

"Uh-huh."

Ignoring Cortez, Chaz stood for a moment with his eyes still on Mackenzie. And another moment. Several moments.

"You waiting for an invitation or something?"

"I'm going! I'm going..." Chaz snapped and finally began to walk over to her.

Only for the bell to ring. Mackenzie and Mitzi said goodbye to their human friends and headed down the hall together in the opposite direction while Chaz stood there in a shock for a second.

"If you had just gone when I pushed you," Cortez threw up his arms in mock anger and Chaz narrowed his eyes when he smirked, "But no, you had to waste your time arguing!"

"Hey, this is all according to plan! I know what I'm doing."

Cortez slumped his shoulders and tipped his head forward, "You have _never_ had a plan when it comes to Mackenzie. And let's be real, if you _did_ , you'd forget it the moment you saw her."

Chaz just pouted and started walking again, "C'mon, we're gonna be late."


	12. Roz, Zach and Alonzo: Crush

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Second Limelight of the day! Some more of BFZ, minus Zephyr, but don't worry, he's coming~ ;) I want to get as much Zephzo and BFZ one-shots as possible done so that you're all really invested in them when I get to the angsty Zephzo AU-type-thing. There's plenty of the others to come as well, so don't worry, and I'll be rewriting the Hazabelle one-shot into them being friends (again, sorry for that change, but this is really going to work out better .). No more new updates since I uploaded the Chanzie one-shot this morning so let's get to BFZ...! This one refers to a BG human! I've mentioned two other BG humans in Another Way (Jessica and Rachel), and now here's Keira

KEIRA: the human in blue who Roz dances with at the block party, also seen amongst the rejects at the end of Fired Up and next to Zed at the start of Fired Up (Competition)

* * *

Roz, Zach and Alonzo

Crush

Roz.

Had a _crush_.

 _On a human_.

She was sitting in the second row, the one in front of Roz, and a couple of seats to the right so they could just barely see her profile. She leaned on her fist, pouting slightly and frowning in concentration with her eyes on the book in front of her and Roz smiled to themself. They had first seen her cheering at the championship a few days ago. Well, they probably had seen her around school before then but they first _noticed_ her at the championship. And they were thrilled (and slightly nervous) when the re-integration started and the zombies returned to Seabrook High only for them to find the girl they had been distracted by at the competition was now in their English class. She was drumming her nails against the desk as her other hand brushed aside her dark, curly hair before picking up her pen. Roz was entranced.

"Don't start drooling, Roz," Zach said from beside them. He didn't even need to look in the direction they had been staring in. He just knew. Roz had pointed her out already. Multiple times.

They glanced at him, then back at the girl somewhat self-consciously, and finally down at their work, "Oh, like you can talk! How many people have you fallen in love with this week, again?" they hissed at Zach and his eyes shifted suspiciously.

"... No comment."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"What did you think?" Alonzo piped up from behind, suddenly joining the conversation.

Zach looked at him and subtlety nodded towards the girl while Roz refused to lift their head, "About that human girl in the second row."

"Right, the girl in blue?"

Roz sighed in defeat, "Yeah... Al?" they rested their arm on the back of their chair and turned to look at him, "Did you talk to her at the competition? You were close to her in the routine, weren't you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Did you find out anything..." they gestured vaguely, "... _Useful_?"

"Uhh... I know her name's Keira...?"

Zach nodded sagely, his hands clasped together over his mouth, "Keira... Definitely a human name." Roz and Alonzo ignored him.

"Anything else?"

"Like what?"

"I dunno, maybe any hints that she's anything but straight?"

Al frowned, "She might have smiled when I made some gay joke, I wasn't really paying attention."

"... You actually found an opening for a gay joke there?"

"You _didn't_? It's a cheer championship, that's a _goldmine_ for gay jokes."

"Yeah, well, I was a little busy _being_ gay at the time."

Al chuckled, "That's a full time job."

"I don't think you're really getting it, Al," Zach said with a joking smile.

"Getting what?"

Roz shook their head, casting their eyes skyward, "Z, I wish Zeph were here."

"Same..." he paused and Roz looked to Zach. They held up three fingers and silently counted down to when Alonzo's eyes narrowed and he leaned forward, "Wait, do you like Keira?"

Roz just smirked, both condescending and affectionate, "Nothing gets past you, Al."

"... So, do you, or not?"

"Oh, for the love of Z." Roz buried their face in their hands while Zach gently patted Alonzo's arm. He looked between them, confused.

"Why doesn't anybody ever answer me?!"

"If you three are finished," they all looked up at the sound of the teacher's voice, "There's still a few minutes left of class. Eyes down and mouths shut."

They each mumbled out an apology but Roz took a quick glance to the right just in time to catch Keira turning away sharply to focus on her own work. Roz bit their lip and looked down.


	13. Zephyr and Alonzo: Bottled Up

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't. The songs Ridiculous and I'm Gay are by Bowling For Soup.

Another Limelight! Three in one day! I've had this particular one-shot done for a little while now... I recommend listening to Ridiculous while reading this one~

* * *

Zephyr and Alonzo

Bottled Up

" _Try not to talk when there's nothing to say. Kept bottled up, we get carried away._ "

Al lay sprawled on his bed, one leg hanging off the side, the other bent at the knee, with his guitar in his hands. His eyes were half-closed as he played and sang along. One of his favourites, but one a little too serious and emotional for the others to know that.

" _Then I fall, then I fall down, then we fall down..._ "

It was good for venting.

" _And you know that it makes me feel so ridiculous._ "

He did feel ridiculous. And stupid. Z, he was _so stupid_. Anybody who looked at him could see it, so why had he never seen it? How had he been so blind to his own feelings? What was he supposed to do now?

" _A pocket full of posies, we fall down on the inside, pretty on the outside. Turn it around, can we turn it around?_ "

He wasn't sure if he could turn this around, though. He loved Zephyr. _Loved_ him. He knew he loved him, he always had, but somewhere along the way, that love had changed to something beyond friendship. It was a good feeling, that wasn't the problem.

" _Try to make a comeback with nowhere to start from now..._ "

Zach and Roz knew. They had known the whole time. This was what they had always been teasing him about. It was obvious to them. It was obvious to everyone. But not to him. Alonzo had just thought ' _he's my best friend, and I love him_ ' and left it at that. The feelings grew stronger, they seemed to grow closer, and Al could barely contain how happy it made him to even hear Zephyr's name. He never stopped to consider there was more to it than friendship.

If it was so obvious to his other friends, was it obvious to Zephyr, too? Was he just making a fool of himself?

" _But it's looking up._ "

He felt a tear prick his eye and blinked it away. It wasn't looking up from where he was standing. Judging from the way Zach and Roz pretty much mocked him on an almost daily basis, he guessed he had no hope in this. They would know whether or not Zephyr felt the same. Maybe they knew he didn't.

He'd be stuck in the same role forever. The idiot of the group. The one the others could never take seriously...

" _A second chance a much better day, a sunset that just won't go awa-_ "

"Alonzo?"

The door opened and Al sat up, surprised to see Zephyr standing there.

"Zeph? What are you doing here?"

"Well, you didn't come over today, and the guys haven't heard from you either. Nobody's seen you all day, that's not normal."

Al tried to shrug it off, "What, can't a guy get a little time to himself every once in a while?"

"Yeah, but you always at least call me. You've never gone completely off the radar like that, not with me."

"You're not the boss of me, Zephyr," he leaned against the headboard of the bed and went back to his strumming.

"Al, what's going on?" Zephyr asked him, obviously not buying it. This wasn't the Alonzo he knew, and he knew Alonzo better than anyone.

"Nothing!" Al avoided his gaze. For one thing, he couldn't lie right to his best friend's face like that and for another, he couldn't risk losing himself in Zephyr's eyes and giving it all away.

"Sure, you just shut yourself up alone in your room singing _Ridiculous_ and sounding like you mean every word because you're perfectly fine."

"I _am_ fine," he insisted.

"We both know if that were the case, you'd be singing _I'm Gay_ ," Zephyr gave him a blank look but it quickly melted away into concern when Al didn't so much as smile. Zephyr's brow creased, "I've never seen you like this."

Alonzo looked at him for a few seconds then dropped his gaze to the guitar in his lap, which only made Zephyr even more nervous.

"Al…?"

He didn't say anything. He sat in thought, chewing the inside of his cheek and refusing to meet Zephyr's eyes.

"Seriously, man, you're scaring me. C'mon, what's wrong?" he waited expectantly but Alonzo wouldn't even look at him. Zephyr forced himself to smile and try making a joke, "What, did they run out of potato fingers or something? Al?" His face slowly fell into a frown. There wasn't even the slightest change in Al's expression. He was growing desperate, "… Please laugh."

The guitar strap came off and Alonzo stood up, briefly throwing him an apologetic look as he moved to prop his guitar up against the wall, "Just… forget it, Zephyr."

"No!" he followed him across the room and took hold of Alonzo's wrist, turning him around. He didn't let go. Their eyes locked and neither one of them could tear themselves away, "Look, if I can't do anything to help this, I get it, I just want you to talk to me! Tell me what's going on."

That seemed to have some kind of effect, but all Alonzo could do was open and close his mouth in a search for words that just wouldn't come. Zephyr pulled him into a hug – one that wasn't returned but he wasn't going to let that stop him. His forehead came to rest against Al's and his eyes closed. Alonzo's, however, remained open, watching in anticipation. Hopeful. _Pleading_. For whatever reassurance he could possibly give. And Zephyr's voice came out in a mere whisper after a short silence.

"Do you have any idea how important you are to me?"

Alonzo's arms finally wrapped around him, gripping his shoulders tightly. He turned his head to press his nose against Zephyr's cheek, as he so often had before, and had to fight off the newfound urge to kiss him. Instead, he let his head fall to the crook of Zephyr's neck.

"Thanks, Zeph..." he mumbled.

After a few more seconds, they both stepped back. Zephyr wasn't about to completely let go of him, though, and Alonzo felt a small smile tugging on his lips.

"Are you gonna tell me what's wrong?"

"No," he shook his head, "It doesn't matter anymore." What mattered was that he had Zephyr at all.

"What? Sure it matters! You can tell m-"

Alonzo finally let the smile come through, and even laughed the slightest bit, "Seriously, Zephyr. You already fixed it."

"How?"

"It's not important. Besides, I was just mad and I didn't even need to be," he looked down, muttering to himself, "And I shouldn't be..."

Zephyr heard him loud and clear. Alonzo stepped out of his grasp and turned away.

"There's something else getting to you, isn't there?"

Al flopped back on his bed again with a sigh, covering his face with his hands, then he pushed his hair back and stared up at the ceiling, "I can't be mad..."

"Why not?" Zephyr came closer, "What's stopping you? If you're mad, you're mad."

He was suddenly bolt upright again and his voice was rising in agitation, "I'm not supposed to get mad, Zephyr! I'm not supposed to be anything but the stupid happy-go-lucky sidekick who just follows you around everywhere, who Zach and Roz basically have to _babysit_ and…" he trailed off, quiet and self-conscious, "… And who Rizzo laughs at whenever I'm over at your place…"

"That…" Zephyr had no idea how to respond, "That's not… Rizzo isn't laughing at _you_ when you're there."

"Then what?"

"Me!" Zephyr's head hung low and he hoped Alonzo wouldn't press him any further, "She's laughing at me."

It didn't work.

"Why?"

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't have anything to do with you," Zephyr tried to assure him but judging from the look on his face, he clearly wasn't convinced, "OK, it kind of has something to do with you but it's not like that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Zephyr squeezed his eyes shut and ran his hands down his face.

"Listen, you're not stupid. You're creative. You're talented," he threw up his arms, "What about the band? You pretty much set the whole thing up yourself, could an idiot do all that?" Sure, you're a little slow sometimes but what does that matter? You make up for it just being you. And who says you have to be happy all the time? You can always be mad or upset or whatever around me, I'm your best friend, I don't care."

Al sat looking at him. How did he always know exactly what to say?

"You really mean that?"

"Of course I mean it."

Zephyr walked over to join him, sitting next to him on the bed. Now feeling a little more like himself, Alonzo threw an arm around him and Zephyr rolled his eyes, smirking, as he let himself be pulled backwards so they were lying side by side. They both laughed and things were back to normal again.

"Al?"

"Hm?"

"Are you ever gonna tell me what that other problem was?"

Alonzo turned away and bit his lip, thinking.

"Maybe," he said and looked back at Zephyr, "Someday."

\- LIMELIGHT –

"And you still didn't say anything," Rizzo said when she heard what had happened. Zephyr gave her an irritated look.

"Riz, he was upset." He headed for the living room and she followed.

"Exactly! Zephyr, that boy _likes_ you. He is crazy about you. You know what would cheer him up? The guy he's been fawning over forever telling him he doesn't wanna be 'just friends' anymore."

"It isn't just about cheering him up."

"It's not like that's the only thing it'll do," Rizzo started pacing around, gesturing wildly, "Why are you being so stubborn about this? You're finally admitting you like him, but you won't do anything about it? I'm sorry, but you're not making any sense right now."

Zephyr was quiet.

"...It's gonna change everything."

Rizzo softened, taking a step towards him, "Sure, things are gonna change, for the better. But I don't see how it'll change _everything_. You and Alonzo are so close already, way closer than any other best friends I know. Definitely closer than me and Zane-"

"What if we broke up?" he interrupted her, his voice strained, like he was trying hard not to cry, "What if it didn't work out? No-one ever really goes back to being friends after a breakup. If anything happens, that's it. I lose him."

Rizzo smiled gently at him, taking his hands in hers, "You're scared you're gonna break up and never be friends again? Baby, everybody's afraid of that sort of thing when they get into a relationship."

Zephyr just frowned sceptically, "How would you know? You're aro."

"Hey, Mama Bear has heard all about it from the others," she chuckled, "She knows how it works."

Zephyr looked at her. He was torn. She'd never seen him so conflicted. The pride she felt at how he had finally worked up the nerve to admit his feelings, if only to his own sister, gave way to sympathy and she pulled him down with her to sit on the couch.

"Zephyr…" Rizzo paused, leaning against the cushion behind her and resting her head in her hand, "I honestly don't believe that will _ever_ be a problem with you two."

"You don't know that."

She was silent for a moment, then she shook her head and patted her brother's knee. He scowled and shifted his leg away but she just smirked.

"Well, maybe not, I can't know _everything_. But one thing I do know for sure; you and Alonzo could be the most insanely cute couple, but you'd still be the best of friends, too. You don't want to let him go, he doesn't want to let you go. That's how you guys work! Come on, have you _seen_ how he looks at you?" she gave him a light shove with her foot and he tried to hide his smile. Maybe she was breaking through. She brought her hand to her mouth, "No, you should see it when somebody mentions your name when you're not even around," that made him perk up, his expression hopeful, "He just lights up."

With a long sigh, Zephyr lay back. His emotions were a jumbled mess and he couldn't take it.

"I don't know what to do."

"I can't figure that out for you. All I can tell you is that you need to talk to him. At least you're not keeping it bottled up anymore."

Good _Z_ , he hated when she was right.


	14. Topaz, Zora and Lazlo: The Saboteurs

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

I was on a roll there getting 3 Limelights out in one day then kinda fell flat again, sorry . More BFZ/Zephzo/Rozeira coming up next, though! And that angsty Zephzo multichap is really coming together so look out for that within the next couple of weeks, I'd expect~ This one links in with the BtB one-shot No Risk, No Reward

 **IMPORTANT** : in case you missed it when I first mentioned this, I won't be keeping Izabelle and Hazen as a couple, it got kind of hard to make that ship work with my characters for them so I've rewritten their one-shot with them as friends and the chapter will be replaced soon after I've uploaded this one! And the new version is longer ^^

TOPAZ: the zombie with ripped-off sleeves helping Eliza with the sabotage plan, also appears in BAMM  
ZORA: the zombie in red helping with the sabotage plan, also in BAMM  
LAZLO: the one boy zombie helping with the sabotage plan, also in BAMM

* * *

Topaz, Zora and Lazlo

The Saboteurs

 **Eliza:** _I've got a plan, meet me early tomorrow, before school._

 **Topaz:** _You're not asking Zed or Bonz?_

 **Eliza:** _They won't listen to reason_

 **Topaz:** _I get you. Want me to bring back-up?_

 **Eliza:** _Definitely. Whoever you can get_

\- LIMELIGHT –

Zora, of course, was Topaz's first choice. Not only because she was her best friend, but also because if Eliza had a plan, a second tech expert would probably come in handy. Her plans always involved some kind of computer junk and that wasn't exactly Topaz's forte. But another pair of hands would still be helpful and as reluctant as she was to admit it, the only other person she could ask was Lazlo.

Lazlo was a total goof-off most of the time but if there was one thing he took seriously, it was activism. And anyway, by this point it looked like the majority of the zombie teens had been seduced into joining the humans' side of things. Topaz and Zora may have been the only two who were still hesitant around them. And even though Lazlo didn't have much of a problem being near them, he kept his interactions to a minimum, instead directing everything at Ozzy and Zavier while _they_ talked with their human friends.

Early that morning, Topaz and Zora met up and went to get Lazlo, completely willing to drag him out of bed if needed, since he definitely would not be up on time despite replying to Topaz's text the night before.

"Toto..." Zora whined, standing next to Topaz on Lazlo's doorstep. His dad had answered and, accepting the excuse of going into school early for last minute adjustments to an assignment, went to wake up his son.

"Just be patient."

"Why can't we go in there and get him ourselves? We're wasting time!"

But then, a tired-looking Lazlo appeared at the door and Topaz gave him a bright smile.

"Thought you could get out of this, did you?"

"No."

They found Eliza waiting for them at the Zombie Town gate. When she saw them, she flashed them a sly smile and waved a piece of paper. From what Topaz could see of it, it was some kind of blueprint. They'd evidently be building something from scratch.

"Morning, guys," she said, "Ready for a little scheming?"

The walk to school was focused entirely on Eliza's plan to sabotage the Mighty Shrimp's performance at the cheer championship the following day. Zora made a full copy of her blueprint to review that night and by the time Zed and Bonzo made it to school, surprised that Eliza had gone on without them, the four of them had a solid breakdown of events. Zed interrupted their conversation by the lockers, Bonzo remaining silent behind him.

"'Liza?"

She briefly glanced at him, "Hi," then turned back to Topaz, Zora and Lazlo.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened, but you can't keep avoiding me. We need to talk about this or we're not going to figure it out."

"I'm a little busy right now, Zed," she gestured to the other three, who each shot a look of disappointment at him, "Maybe later."

They ignored any other attempts he made to speak until the bell rang and Eliza placed the blueprint in her locker for safe keeping until they could get back to work. But as they all started down the hall, a patrol officer appeared.

"All zombies are to report to the basement."

"What?"

They didn't get anymore of a chance to protest and were swiftly herded towards the stairwell.

\- LIMELIGHT –

Zombies were no longer considered students at Seabrook High School, but that wasn't going to stop Eliza, Topaz, Zora and Lazlo from doing what had to be done. Topaz successfully picked the lock on a back door of the building and they slipped backstage as the competition was starting. They had a limited amount of time to set everything up before Seabrook was set to cheer. Lazlo kept watch as they moved around, carrying equipment as quietly as they could, and soon found the perfect spot for Eliza to hook up her computer. She and Zora took care of the technical side of things while Topaz and Lazlo were to start rigging the device they had cobbled together from old computer parts and a few things they had obtained from Paizley the night before.

"Hey, Toto?"

Topaz slammed down the box she was holding and took a deep breath, exhaling through her nose and closing her eyes.

"Lazlo, I swear to Z, if you call me that one more time..." Her eyes snapped open again and she faced him.

"How come Zora gets to call you 'Toto', then?"

"Zora," Topaz jerked a thumb behind her to point at the zombie in question, who raised her chin and smiled smugly, "Is my best friend."

"Aren't I a best friend, too?"

"No. You're a second tier friend. So you don't get nickname privileges."

With that, she picked up the box again and shoved it into Lazlo's arms, then went to join Zora and Eliza.

"I can't work with that guy," she scoffed and folded her arms. She was half joking – they _were_ friends, he just got on her nerves sometimes. Zora looked up at her.

"I think we're just about done here, we can come and help out in a second."

"Thank Z."

Zora got up to take a USB stick over to Lazlo and Topaz crouched down beside Eliza for a moment.

"I'm surprised you didn't ask your sister to help out as well."

"Oh, I did," Eliza rolled her eyes and looked at Topaz, "Believe it or not, she actually thought this was going too far."

"Since when did Azalea ever call any kind of protest 'too far'?" she frowned and Eliza shrugged.

"Since now, apparently. _I'd_ say 'too far' is when a bunch of overly cheery drakskas steal a zombie's computer and use it to disable their Z-bands and endanger their, and everybody's else's, lives."

Topaz peered out from under the stands to the edge of the stage where she could just make out a flash of pink and green. She shook her head, "They're gonna get what's coming to them."


	15. Alonzo and Zach: Wingman - Zach's Turn

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Ever closer to Zephzo (and the angsty AU multichap coming up~) So within BFZ, besides Zephyr and Alonzo being best friends, I see Zephyr being closer to Roz and Alonzo being closer to Zach, so this and tomorrow's one-shots are about those two pairs! Both set at the same time - the block party. I've also been thinking there needs to be more zombie children other than Zoey so I'm giving some of the BGZ younger siblings. Here's a quick introduction to Al's little sister, Lindzey ^^

* * *

Alonzo and Zach

Wingman – Zach's Turn

The block party had begun, the band was set up and now they were free to get back to the fun before it came time for them to play. After _BAMM_ , of course. The humans needed to be properly welcomed into Zombieland first. Roz was anxiously eyeing Keira from a distance while the boys talked until Zephyr slipped away to talk to her, and Alonzo was suddenly the one watching his crush, with a slightly more curious than anxious look about him.

"Is it really that obvious to everyone that I like Zephyr...?" he actually sounded _shy_ , which was not at all like him.

Zach was surprised. He leaned closer, "So, you finally figured that out, huh?"

"Come off it, man, just answer the question."

"Alright, yeah, it's always been pretty clear to me, but I'm one of your best friends. I know you."

"You don't think anybody else has guessed it? I never thought about it that much before but I'm, like, practically glued to him whenever he's around."

Zach couldn't deny that. But he could try, "You're a... very affectionate guy. Everyone knows that. It's perfectly normal behaviour for you."

"I don't exactly nuzzle just anybody's cheek, Zach."

"Well, you got me there."

Alonzo couldn't help chuckling a little, "You'd tell me if you knew something was up, right?"

"And by 'something', you mean...?"

"If Zeph likes me."

"Right, that," he hesitated but Alonzo didn't notice, "Yeah, if I knew _for sure_ , I'd tell you." He wasn't exactly lying since Zephyr had never explicitly admitted to anything.

They were both quiet for a few seconds, Al watching Zephyr and Zach watching Al, until Al spoke up again, softly.

"Am I really that stupid?"

"You're not _stupid_."

"Then how come I couldn't even figure out my own feelings?"

"'Cause the way you are when you're with Zeph is basically second nature to you. You never thought about it."

Al didn't respond, keeping his eyes on Zephyr.

"Ask him to dance," Zach suggested.

"What?" he snapped out of it and looked at Zach, confused.

"C'mon, Al, what have you got to lose? Ask the guy you like to dance."

"The guy I like also happens to be my best friend, _that's_ what I've got to lose. We always dance together anyway, how's he supposed to know I mean... _together_ -together?"

"Uh, you tell him?"

Alonzo shook his head, "There's no time now, anyway, Bonzo's gonna play _BAMM_ any minute."

"Isn't that exactly the chance you need?"

"There's meant to be this whole thing of us all dancing with humans," Alonzo said with a roll of his eyes, "I can't."

"How about after?"

" _We're_ supposed to be playing, remember?"

"After our set?"

Alonzo glanced back towards Zephyr, talking to Roz, but was soon disturbed by a high-pitched voice right next to his ear.

"Whatcha looking at?" his little sister had shown up out of nowhere and now had her hands on his shoulders, standing on tiptoes and craning her neck to see, "Zephyr? Are you finally talking about your crush on Zephyr?" She stared at him, wide-eyed and excited.

"OK, _ow_. Lindzey, can you not...?"

"Are you?" she whipped round to ask Zach and her ponytail smacked Al in the face.

"Yup." Zach nodded and Lindzey squealed. She let go of her brother and he straightened up, rolling his shoulder.

"Lin. Chill."

"Dude, you really are obvious if your sister guessed it and she doesn't even live with you."

Alonzo didn't respond. He picked up Lindzey and dropped her a few feet away, "Go. Now."

"Aww, no...!"

"Go!"

She hmphed but left them alone. Zach nudged Al, putting an arm around his shoulder and keeping his voice low this time.

"Are you gonna ask him, then?"

"I don't know, maybe?"

"Ask him what?"

" _Lindzey!_ "

\- LIMELIGHT –

 _BAMM_ had once again proven to be the ultimate party track and now it felt like the humans were genuinely ready to join them in Zombieland. But Alonzo had other things on his mind. He was near the back of the crowd with Zach again. He almost had the chance to ask Zephyr to dance later, right before _BAMM_ , but the song had started and the two of them were distracted. And now, he was even further away from Zephyr, who was standing on the other side of the crowd.

Alonzo knew he was worrying about nothing. But he couldn't help it when it came to Zephyr.

"... He was dancing with a cheerleader..."

"So were you. So was I. So was Roz! So was everyone."

"Roz was dancing with Keira. She _likes_ Keira. And I don't need you to tell me you were definitely checking out the girl you were dancing with. And anyway, did you see who _he_ picked? One of the assistant captains of the squad!"

"That doesn't mean anything."

"What if it does? I can't compete with that."

"She can't compete with countless years of friendship," Zach patted his shoulder, giving him a sympathetic smile, "Or cheek nuzzles."

That broke Al and he snorted with laughter, pushing Zach away.

"C'mon, can you really see Zephyr with a cheerleader? Especially an _Acey_?"

"Alright, no, I can't. But what am I gonna do? I don't even know if I have a shot."

"... Date me and make him jealous."

" _Zach_."

"I'm kidding!" he nudged Alonzo with his elbow and laughed, "I'm not _that_ desperate."

It took Al a moment.

"Wait, what's _that_ supposed to mean?!"

Zach couldn't answer for laughing.


	16. Roz and Zephyr: Wingman - Zephyr's Turn

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Part 2 of the BFZ 'Wingman' one-shots, I guess~ Zephyr is a little better at being a wingman than Zach is...

* * *

Roz and Zephyr

Wingman – Zephyr's Turn

"Talk to her."

"What?" Roz snapped out of her daze at the sound of Zephyr's voice, "When did you get here?"

"Not important. But _you_ have been staring at Keira for at least five minutes straight and that may be the longest I've ever seen you focusing on something without falling asleep."

Roz narrowed her eyes, "How dare you use the word 'straight' in reference to me?"

"Dude. Don't avoid the subject. Go and talk to Keira."

The block party had just begun and for the first time, humans were invited into Zombie Town as guests. Roz had already met up with a few human friends she had made before the whole homecoming incident, and Bonzo had introduced her to Bree. The girl seemed like fun and when people started switching jackets, Roz had ended up with hers. But another cheerleader had caught her eye. (Well, technically, Keira hadn't actually made the squad in the first place, but she had competed with them anyway.)

"... Staring at her is not the same as talking to her, Roz."

She jumped and smacked his chest with the back of her hand, "Would you quit doing that?"

"Would you quit zoning out?"

"Obviously not!"

"Hey," Zephyr punched her arm lightly and smirked, "It's easy. I was talking to her earlier, actually."

Roz froze, "What?"

"Yup." Zephyr was finally getting his revenge for all the times Roz had teased him for _his_ crush and he was loving every second of it.

"Just come out and say it."

Zephyr faked a serious expression, "I'm bi."

"Not funny."

"Oh, but it's funny every time you do it?"

"Yes. What were you talking to her about?"

"Oh, y'know," Zephyr leaned back against the wall and casually raised a hand to inspect his fingernails, "I was just gathering some intel."

" _Intel?_ " He was getting her hopes up. And irritating her by drawing it out for as long as he could.

He nodded and pointed, discreetly, over at Keira mingling with some other zombies on the street, "She was hanging out with Mackenzie and Mitzi so I slid into the conversation, dropped a few hints and obviously, Kenzie picked them up..."

"And it all came out?" Roz quirked an eyebrow and smirked, both amused and hopeful.

"Nice word choice," Zephyr blanked, "But, yeah. You've got a chance."

"See, why can't Alonzo and Zach be a little more like you?"

"We can't all be this amazing," they both laughed then Zephyr nudged Roz and nodded towards Keira, "Why not ask her to dance? We're all supposed to dance with humans for _BAMM_."

Roz followed his gaze. She took a breath and nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, I should, right?"

"Right."

"Wait, what about you?"

"What _about_ me?"

"You can't dance with Alonzo," she smiled at the way he rolled his eyes and looked away, "So, who are you gonna ask?"

Zephyr shrugged, "I dunno. I guess the next cheerleader to walk past."

A moment later, one did.

"Her."

"An _Acey_?"

"I've made my choice."

\- LIMELIGHT –

"Hey, Keira...?"

When Roz finally worked up the courage to approach Keira, the human girl seemed to light up in recognition.

"Oh, hey, Roz, right? You're one of the zombies that got transferred into my English class."

"Yeah!" she said, already dumbstruck from no more than hearing Keira say her name, "Enjoying the party?"

"Totally! We almost never do anything like this in Seabrook, we've been missing out."

"If you think this is fun, you should come to a zombie mash sometime."

"That better?"

"Way better."

"I might have to take you up on that," she nodded with a smirk, then turned somewhat shy, "You were great at the championship, by the way. I mean, all of the zombies were amazing but you know, you... you were great," she looked down, embarrassed, but smiling nonetheless, and Roz shook her head.

"I was just at the back, I was barely even there..."

"You were still great."

Roz, feeling flustered, let out a short laugh, "Thanks, but you're the one with the real cheer skills."

"Hm, apparently not good enough for Bucky, though."

"He might give you another shot now. He'd be crazy not to let on the squad."

Keira just took another sip from her cup and changed the subject.

"So, Alonzo mentioned you guys are in a band...?" Keira asked, absentmindedly swirling her drink around, and Roz could've sworn she was leaning closer, "We talked a little at the competition."

"Yeah, well, a cover band."

"That's still a band," she insisted and Roz shrugged, chewing her lip, "What do you play?"

"Drums. We're called Bowling For Zoup. You can blame Al for that name."

That earned her a giggle from Keira, who then seemed to remember something and snapped her fingers.

"Wait, as in Bowling For _Soup_?"

"You've heard of them?" she asked in surprise. Keira nodded.

"Yes! I haven't listened to them in ages, though. They're not exactly _Seabrook_ , you know what I mean? So I always had to keep it kinda quiet that I liked them..." she smiled slyly, "I don't think I'll have to for much longer, though."

"We're actually gonna be playing pretty soon, so..." she wasn't really sure where she was going with that but it didn't matter. Keira grinned anyway.

"Awesome!" she said and Roz almost felt her heart beat, "I'll be watching, then."

For a few seconds, they were just looking at each other, both smiling a little shyly and partly hiding under eyelashes, until Mackenzie's voice was suddenly coming from right in front of them.

"Hey, Keira...?

Keira blinked and quickly turned to Mackenzie, "Just a sec!" then she turned back to Roz, "Um... save me a dance...?"

Roz could only nod.

"Bonzo's gonna be starting any minute now! You don't have to wait long," Mackenzie said with a quick wink in Roz's direction, herding Keira away. The human girl turned back to briefly wave at Roz and she waved back. Once Keira wasn't looking, she let a soft smile spread across her face.

Zephyr reappeared very shortly after that, yet again without Roz seeing him slide over.

"So, how'd it go?"

"Stop doing that!" she jumped and punched his arm, making him laugh, "Honestly, I think it went pretty great."

"I thought it would."

They talked for a little while longer while they waited for the song every zombie was anticipating to start. Then, Roz noticed Zephyr staring at something – or rather, someone. Alonzo and Zach were making their way over.

"OK, I know you can't ask him right now, but you seriously need to try harder with Al," Roz whispered in his ear, "How about you take your own advice?"

"How about no?"


	17. Zephyr and Alonzo: Finally

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Time for fluff! \^^/ I have one more Zephzo one-shot planned before I start properly writing this angst AU thing for them (the title of that being Tattooed Mistakes (Are Gonna Fade Over Time)), and Another Way should be completed before the AU starts as well. And I'll hopefully be getting back to BtB and maybe even the series shortly after. Or at least I hope I do o.o Anyway, back to my boys~

* * *

Zephyr and Alonzo

Finally

Band practice was over for the day and everyone in BFZ was walking home from the power plant. Not one of their families had been prepared to put up with their noise, so it had seemed like the next best place to go. But during practice, Zephyr had been watching Alonzo closely. Not that he didn't do that already, but things had been... different, somehow. In fact, ever since the day he'd found Al all holed up in his bedroom after being completely MIA, ever since that talk, there'd been some kind of change.

He could've sworn Al had somehow gotten even closer to him lately, and even more open to him. Which was saying something, considering it was common practice for him to burst through Zephyr's door and practically drape himself over him simply because he was bored, while Zephyr did everything he could to act annoyed and still keep Alonzo in that position.

He noticed it at the block party, too. They had played _Catalyst_ ; it was meant to be dedicated to Zed and Addison and their new relationship, but when Zephyr had glanced over, he caught Alonzo staring at him. And he didn't look away. Their eyes stayed locked on one another.

" _I hope you know that you're my best friend, I've got your back until the very end. And together, we will find our way. You are the catalyst..._ "

At least it was mutual when, at practice that day, he had done pretty much the same thing while running through _Sometimes_.

" _Sometimes, I swear you make me sick, sometimes I just wanna kiss you, and tell you I love you, sometimes..._ "

Now, as they walked down the street with Alonzo and Zach ahead, Zephyr didn't take his eyes off him when he spoke to Roz.

"Something's happening here, right?"

"It's always been happening."

"But it's... actually getting serious now. This could really happen."

"You want it to, though, right?" they raised an eyebrow in question.

"I mean..." he sighed, "Yeah. But what am I supposed to say to him?"

Roz shrugged, "You've been friends with Al for years, you should know him by now. Whatever happened to the guy who convinced me to dance with Keira? What, you can't be that smooth when it comes to your own damn crush?"

Zephyr didn't answer, he just winced and kept watching Alonzo. They passed Roz's house and she was gone. Then Zach was, too, and they were alone together. Al happened to be heading to Bonzo's to drop off some equipment, pick up a couple of things and maybe even run through a song or two, and Bonzo lived right next door to Zephyr. The rest of the walk there was uneventful, nothing unlike their norm, but Zephyr could definitely feel something sparking between them now more than ever. He was hardly taking in any of their conversation – it was mostly Alonzo making jokes and suggesting ideas for the band, and Zephyr smiling, nodding and enjoying the sound of Al's laugh.

They soon reached Zephyr's street and he realised this could be his moment. Things had been building up so perfectly that he'd be a fool not to take the chance when he had it. He knew Rizzo was right, Al really did feel the same way. Those recent changes confirmed it. But Zephyr always seemed to chicken out when faced with a potential confession scene.

He stopped in his tracks outside his own front door. Alonzo, oblivious at first, kept walking towards Bonzo's.

 _Just say it. Get it over with._

"Hey, Al...?" he didn't look at him. He'd just lose his cool and give up if he looked at him before he could say it.

" _Zephyr, that boy_ likes _you. He is crazy about you."_

She was right. There was no backing out now.

"I like you," Zephyr said, his eyes closed. He opened them just in time to see Al freeze and start to turn around, "Like... not just as a friend."

And there it was, out in the open. The corner of Al's mouth twitched up and he let out a short, disbelieving laugh, "A-are you serious?"

"I wouldn't joke about this, Alonzo. I know you've got things to do, but I-I... I couldn't wait any longer."

"... You like me?" Al, grinning now, took the few steps back over to Zephyr as he nodded.

"Yeah."

Alonzo threw his arms around Zephyr's neck, "Good..." he whispered, nuzzling into his cheek and, like he'd been wanting to for some time now, kissing it slowly.

Zephyr didn't know what he had been expecting but that one small kiss was all it took to stun him into silence. Meanwhile, Al glanced back at Bonzo's house.

"I only have so much time before his dad gets home," he started walking backwards, not wanting to turn away from Zephyr just yet, "I'll come over soon as I can, OK?"

Zephyr nodded dumbly and watched Al go. For a moment, he was rooted to the spot, staring at Al, until he reached Bonzo's porch and looked back after knocking on the door. Alonzo's smile never faded and Zephyr smiled even wider in return. When Al disappeared inside, he let out a long, slightly shaky breath and headed for his own house.

Once the door was closed, he leaned back against it and dumped his guitar case on the floor.

"Zephyr, is that you...?" came a voice from the kitchen.

"Yeah, hi, Mom..." he wasn't really paying attention as she went through the usual 'how was practice?' spiel. He responded practically on autopilot and drifted towards the living room where he could hear the sound of some weird sitcom or whatever it was Rizzo was wasting her time on.

Zephyr snatched the remote from her hand and switched the TV off. Rizzo gaped at him.

"Hey, I was watching that!" she spluttered but he just dropped the remote on top of the TV set.

"You're gonna want to hear this, Riz."

Her big sister instincts kicked in immediately and she straightened up, leaning towards him. Time to make an assessment; he wasn't meeting her eyes so it wasn't something serious in a bad way, and he wasn't trying too hard to hide a smirk so he wasn't trying to pull some prank on her. But he _was_ biting back a small smile. It took less than a second once she remembered where he had just been, and more importantly, _who_ he had just been with.

"What happened?"

"Well..." he said, then took a sharp breath in through his teeth.

"Zephyr. What... _happened_...?" she asked again, firmer this time.

Zephyr closed his eyes and braced himself, "I might have told Al I like him...?" he cracked open one eye to see Rizzo's face break into a wide grin.

" _And_...?" she couldn't contain herself, no matter how much he wished she would. There was a long pause before he answered.

"He kinda," Zephyr could feel the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth just thinking about it but he wasn't about to give his sister that satisfaction, "... Kissed me."

Rizzo let out a piercing squeal and her hands flew to her mouth, while Zephyr's flew to his ears.

"Would you cool it, Riz?"

" _Kinda_. He _kinda_ kissed you," she stated, tucking her feet underneath herself so she was kneeling on the couch, "Did he kiss you or not?"

"Yeah, on the cheek. I mean, it was a little spur-of-the-moment when I told him and there wasn't a lot of time but-"

Rizzo sprung to her feet, "He kissed you! You actually told Alonzo you have a crush on him and he _kissed_ you?"

"On the _cheek_!"

"Maybe so, but it sure says a lot," she crushed him in a hug and put on her most patronising cutesy baby voice, "Ooh, my baby bwother's got himsewf a boyfwiend!"

"Whoa, hey, nothing's official yet," Zephyr tried to prize her off but she wouldn't budge, instead swaying him back and forth while he grimaced. But then she suddenly released him and grabbed his arms instead to force him to look at her.

"Wait, so, what happened after? Wasn't there some kind of talk?"

"He had to stop by Bonzo's place while his parents are still out, he said he'd come over afterwards."

"He's coming over?" Rizzo's excitement clearly wasn't running out anytime soon. You'd have thought she was the one whose crush had just kissed her, which didn't make much sense when she didn't even get crushes. Zephyr had to laugh a little at that, holding up his hands in a calming gesture as he backed away.

"Don't freak out, Rizzo, it's still just Al."

"Yeah, Al. Your boyfriend-to-be."

"But still Al," he fixed her with a hard glare but she was practically immune to that by now. She smirked and cocked her head. Zephyr pointed at her, "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything," she shrugged.

"I swear to Z, if you do anything when he gets here..."

"You know," Rizzo started in that teasing tone he hated so much, folding her arms and thoughtfully tapping a finger against her chin, "I wasn't planning to but now that you mention it."

Zephyr's eyes went wide.

"I'll take your foot off again!" he threatened.

Her smile dropped instantly, "You wouldn't dare."

Of course he would. He lunged for her and the fight was on. Rizzo toppled back onto the couch and Zephyr tugged on her ankle but she wasn't going to let it go this time. She kicked him off and stood but he just pulled again and she fell to the floor beside him with a yelp. When she tried to get away, Zephyr dragged her back while she clawed at the floor, and with each tug she kicked more and more until she gave up and slammed her fist down.

" _Mom!_ "

Zephyr finally loosened his grip but he didn't let go completely.

"Really?"

Their mom appeared in the doorway and he froze.

"What is going on in here?"

Rizzo, calm as can be, wrenched her foot free and sat up, "Zephyr's getting all mad 'cause his new boyfriend's coming over and I just wanted to be there," she said with her best 'I'm-the-older-twin-and-you-can't-stop-me' look.

"Riz!"

"What?" their mother stood looking between her two children, confused.

"He told Alonzo he likes him."

Zephyr sat there for a few seconds, unable to read his mom's expression. Eventually, she just raised an eyebrow.

"Well, thank Z you finally did. But that's no excuse for pulling your sister apart, so let her go and get off of the floor, both of you!"

With that, she returned to the kitchen. Rizzo stood up and gave Zephyr a smug smile while he just sat there, gaping at her.

"... You told Mom?"

Rizzo rolled her eyes and flipped her hair, "Please, I didn't _have_ to tell her. There's not a single zombie in town who doesn't know, not since you told Al himself now. You're too obvious, baby."

She went to pick up the TV remote and shooed him out of the room.

\- LIMELIGHT –

Less than half an hour later, Alonzo was on the doorstep outside, still feeling giddy and slightly dazed. In fact, he'd been like that the entire time he was at Bonzo's.

" _Did you know Zephyr liked me?"_

" _... Za...?"_

"' _Cause he likes me...!"_

" _... Gratzar?"_ Congrats?

" _This is insane."_

" _Alonzka. Zrap zu ru. Zazig. Bak grog, gruzic."_ I'm happy for you. Really. But right now, music.

He was distracted the whole time; it wasn't surprising that Bonzo cut the visit short and all but forced him out of the house.

He knocked twice then opened the door, as he always did. He heard Zephyr's mom call out a greeting from the kitchen and shouted back, then when he passed by the living room, he caught sight of Rizzo leaning against the arm of her chair and watching him knowingly.

"There he is...!" she giggled, "You better get yourself upstairs, he's waiting for you."

"You heard everything, didn't you?"

"You know it, now go on! Go finish what you started!"

He didn't need to be told twice.

"Zeph?" he pushed open the bedroom door and immediately heard Zephyr's half-excited, half-nervous voice.

"Al!" he hurried over to him, "You're already here? I mean, I would've thought you'd be a little longer..."

Alonzo shrugged, "Yeah, well... I wanted to see my boyfriend."

Zephyr tried everything in his power not to melt at the word, and how easily it slipped off Alonzo's tongue, "Boyfriend?"

"You want to be, don't you? Or is there another reason you told me you liked me?"

"No, I just..." he sighed and Al carefully took his hand. His eyes were fixed on their interlaced fingers and Al tilted his chin up to look at him. Zephyr bit his lip, "I just don't want this to change things. Not too much."

Alonzo reached for his other hand now, "Who said things were gonna change? We're still us."

"Yeah, we're still us, but now we're... _us_ , us. Like, we-we're a _thing_ now."

There was a moment of silence and Al shook his head, flashing Zephyr a loving smile.

"C'mon, Zeph, we've always been a thing," he stroked his thumb across Zephyr's knuckles, "This is just calling it something different."

"How different, though?"

"How different do you want it to be?" he leaned closer, eyes locked on Zephyr's. It was getting hard to speak with him talking like that, just inches away from his face. Zephyr dropped his head in the hopes he might be a little less tongue-tied then but he felt Al's hand cup his face and lift it up again, his breath getting closer and closer, "How about..."

He closed his eyes and Zephyr found himself following suit. In a short burst of confidence, Zephyr took the chance and captured Alonzo's lips with his own before Al could do it first, and he felt him gasp. Al's other arm snaked around his waist, his hand coming to rest on his back, while Zephyr's reached for Al's shoulders. One hand found its way up to his cheek, then his hair.

Alonzo pulled away far too soon for Zephyr's taste and he couldn't help laughing when Zephyr instinctively leaned forward as his eyes fluttered open, already wanting more. Zephyr breathed out a soft sigh, a smile gradually spreading across his face, and Al smiled back and rested his forehead against Zephyr's.

"I really don't want everything to change, Al..."

"This is the only thing that has to change."

And he kissed him again.


	18. Zephyr and Alonzo: Attention

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

More fluff! These boys will only ever be happy in Limelight, I'm gonna torture them too much in Tattooed Mistakes (which is gonna be a bit later than I'd hoped)

* * *

Zephyr and Alonzo

Attention

Just as Alonzo had promised, the only thing that really changed in his and Zephyr's relationship was the kissing (of which there was now a lot). They'd always been especially close, always been comfortable with a lot of physical contact and always trusted and cared for each other above pretty much anyone else, at least outside of their families. So it didn't really feel all that different.

Well, maybe there was one other little difference.

Zephyr was sure Alonzo hadn't been this starved for attention before. Or maybe he had been and just never made it clear, mostly because the kind of attention he was looking for typically involved lips.

At this current point in time, Alonzo was sitting on the edge of Zephyr's bed while his boyfriend was preoccupied with restringing his acoustic. Al leaned back on his hands, watching, then tipped his head up to stare at the ceiling. After a moment, he sighed dramatically and collapsed onto the bed.

"Quit sulking," Zephyr said teasingly, only briefly glancing at him. Al faked a sneer.

"I'm not _sulking_!"

"Yeah, you are. 'Cause I'm not paying attention to you. But I know for a fact if I come over there right now, I am never gonna get this done," he laughed a little when Alonzo looked away, feigning innocence, "Just let me finish this and then I'm all yours."

"Thought you were already all mine?" Alonzo lay stretched out, propping himself up on his elbow.

OK, so flirting with Al hadn't taken Zephyr very long to get used to and he had gotten a lot more confident in that area, but Al was constantly one-upping him and almost giving him a heartbeat. He bit his lip when he saw the way Alonzo was smirking at him and fixed his eyes back on the guitar. There was a short silence then he heard the covers rustling as Al stood and his footsteps walking towards him.

"Fine...!" he whined, wrapping his arms around Zephyr's neck from behind and cuddling up close to him, "I want attention! Look at me! Kiss me!" Zephyr resisted, even when Alonzo nuzzled and kissed his cheek, though he couldn't stop the smile creeping onto his face.

"There's this little thing called 'patience', Al, you heard of it?"

"Nope."

He gave him another quick kiss, on the jaw now, but they were interrupted by the sound of Rizzo's voice.

"Get a room!"

She had just been walking past and had caught sight of them through the half open door and decided to stop and tease them.

"First off, we are _literally_ in my room," Zephyr pointed out, "And second, _you_ have spent forever trying to get me into this _exact_ situation!"

Rizzo stared at him blankly for a few seconds, then shook her head, "I'm sorry, I can't take you seriously with Al draped over you like that."

Up until then, Alonzo's face had been buried in the crook of Zephyr's neck. Now, he lifted his head to rest it on top of Zephyr's.

"It's nice here," he said, smiling at Rizzo.

" _Dude!_ " Zephyr was as close to blushing as a zombie could be. He might like Alonzo acting this way when they were alone, but in front of his _sister_? Meanwhile, Rizzo just quirked an eyebrow and tilted her head.

"You need to start calling him something cuter, baby," she told him, halfway out the door, "He's your boyfriend now."

With Rizzo gone, Alonzo grinned and nuzzled into Zephyr's cheek again while he pouted, "I don't care what you call me," he mumbled and slowly planted a kiss there.

Zephyr tried to hide his smile and Al kissed him again, and again, and again, gradually edging closer to his lips. With each kiss, Zeph seemed to lose focus until Al pecked the corner of his mouth and he let his eyes drop to look at him.

"Hi..." Al reached to cup his face and turn him around to kiss him properly, leaving Zephyr looking dazed when he pulled away. It took a second or two for him to speak.

"I'm busy."

Alonzo smirked and nodded at the guitar now lying abandoned on the floor.

"But you've stopped."

That was true. So this time, Zephyr leaned in for a kiss. It was slow and sweet, Zephyr running his fingers through Alonzo's hair as they smiled against one another's lips.

Alonzo stayed close after they pulled apart, knowing that Rizzo might still be around upstairs and not wanting to let her hear.

"... You love me, right?"

Zephyr chuckled lightly, "Of course I do."

"Say it?"

"What?"

"Say you love me," Al pouted, giving him puppy-dog eyes, "Please?"

"You're acting like I've never said it to you before."

"Well, you haven't," he shrugged, "Not the way I want you to."

"And what way is that?" Zephyr quirked an eyebrow.

"... As a boyfriend. You've told me you love me as a friend before. You've never told me you love me as a _boyfriend_."

Zephyr paused and tilted his head, then took hold of Alonzo's chin to pull him into yet another kiss.

"I do love you. As a boyfriend."


	19. Izabelle, Zeke and Hazen: Pep Rally

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Two weeks after posting a bunch of Zephzo/BFZ one-shots, Ly's finally back with some other BGZ~! I'll be introducing some new zombies in the next couple Limelights cuz they'll be mentioned in Tattooed Mistakes (and if you like the BG zombies, especially Zephyr and Alonzo, you'll want to read it! Just be warned the first chapter has some quite gory stuff going down)

Remember the first one-shot I did of Izabelle and Hazen was rewritten! I changed them to being friends cuz I had some problems with shipping them but now we can get into that friendship a bit~

* * *

Izabelle, Zeke and Hazen

Pep Rally

The second day at Seabrook High School and Hazen had seriously hoped he was going to get the chance to warm up to humans a bit. But no, they'd been confined to the basement and the only humans he had gotten anywhere near to so far were Principal Lee and the cheerleader who had come to talk to Zed earlier that morning. Just his luck. Part of him was still relieved, though. He had no idea what kind of humans he might have bumped into had they been allowed upstairs.

"Haze?" he lifted his head at the sound of Zeke's voice as he sat down beside him, "What's up?"

"Nothing, just thinking."

"Stressing, more like. I know you. Something's up. Spill."

Hazen gave in, "I kinda wanted to, y'know, _interact_ with humans here."

"But that's, like, your biggest fear. I woulda thought you'd be glad you didn't have to go anywhere near them. Why do you want to?"

"Because! If we're really gonna get anywhere with this integration, I have to learn to relax around them. I can't do that if I'm never _actually_ around them!"

Izabelle, having overheard them talking, came to sit on the desk in front of Hazen and put her feet up on the chair. Riza and Zadie trailed along behind her.

"Why not come to the pep rally?" Izabelle suggested and Zeke snorted.

" _You're_ going to the pep rally?"

Izabelle easily shrugged it off, "Bonzo's going, I gotta keep an eye on him."

"Zed and Eliza can handle him," Zeke said, waving his hand dismissively. Izabelle glared at him.

"Don't you dare try to tell me I don't need to protect my baby cousin in a gym full of draks."

"Whatever. But I am _not_ going to a pep rally."

"You don't have to," Izabelle rolled her eyes, "I can watch both Bonzo _and_ Hazen."

Hazen frowned, "You make it sound like you're babysitting me...", and Izabelle patted his head.

"Hush, gralzig, the grownups are talking."

Zeke huffed at 'gralzig' – literally 'tiny thing'. A pretty tame, usually affectionate insult along the lines of 'shrimp' and 'half-pint'. Which Izabelle really didn't have the right to call Hazen.

"You don't need to be so condescending, Izabelle."

"It's a joke, Zeke. Z's sake, learn to take a joke!"

"It's not a joke if he doesn't find it funny."

She looked at him for a second then turned to Hazen, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head back.

"I-I guess...?" he stammered.

"Don't let her pressure you, Haze," Zeke groaned, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes.

Izabelle threw up her arms, "I'm _joking_!"

"Learn to _make_ a joke!"

"What is the big deal?"

Their bickering got louder and they were talking over each other now so that none of the others could even tell what they were saying. Zadie and Riza always found it entertaining to watch how frustrated Zeke could get with Izabelle, while Hazen sat with his head in his hand, just waiting for it to end. Until Zeke crossed the line.

"And what is up with you always calling him 'gralzig'? You know he's taller than you, _you're_ the gralzig."

Izabelle's tone turned cold, "What was that?"

And Zeke knew he had crossed the line.

"Nothing."

"Alright, it's coming off." She reached for her Z-band and Hazen grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"This is _not_ worth fighting over, guys."

Izabelle sighed and pulled her arm out of his grasp, "OK, look, you wanna get used to the humans? You gotta be around humans," she turned to Zeke, trying to stay calm and civil, "You don't wanna go to the rally? I'm going anyway. Hazen, the offer's there, take it or leave it."

To Zeke's surprise, Hazen nodded, "I'll take it."

"What?" Zeke stared at him, his mouth hanging open.

"She's right!"

"But-"

"You think I'll have any trouble with a human if _she's_ around?"

Zeke scoffed, then pouted, then propped his elbow up on the desk and dropped his head into his hand, "No..."

"I win!" Izabelle laughed and stamped her feet.

Zeke leaned forward and pointed an accusing finger at her, "Hey, take this seriously! He's never been around that many humans before."

"I am _so_ taking this seriously!"

"You're gloating about 'winning', Izabelle," Zeke scoffed, making air quotes on 'winning', "What serious person does that?"

"Uh, _me_?"

As they fell into another argument, Hazen turned to Riza and Zadie, who were both smirking, "Don't you ever get tired of them fighting all the time?"

Both girls shook their heads and grinned, "Nope!"

– LIMELIGHT –

There weren't many zombies at the pep rally. Of course, Zed and Eliza joined Bonzo but aside from them, Izabelle and Hazen, only Mitzi, Azure and Roz seemed to have taken any interest. Which meant there was a lot of humans watching them when they entered the gym together. Hazen was already nervous and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Izabelle scowled at the handful of human students who were shooting them dirty looks and whispering among themselves. She turned back briefly to check that Bonzo was alright and, seeing that he was preoccupied with his friends, she linked her arm with Hazen's and pulled him along after Roz and Azure towards the steps.

"You're _fine_ ," she hissed, "They're barely even looking at you."

She wasn't always the best at sounding reassuring, but he knew she was trying and he appreciated that. And he really could guarantee he'd be well protected if any of the humans decided to cause a scene; Izabelle was never one to hold back. He just hoped she wouldn't completely lose it, or threaten to take off her Z-band, even if that was only ever said as a joke. The humans would probably take it seriously and she could cause a panic. He let her lead him to their seats. When the music started and the cheer squad ran out, everyone's attention was diverted to them and Hazen felt himself relax.

When Bucky entered, bursting through a giant poster of his own face only to reveal a second, identical poster behind it, Izabelle cackled and nudged Hazen's arm, making him laugh along with her. He was actually enjoying himself. Well, he was up until he saw the sparks. 'Spirit sticks', as the humans called them. Hazen's anxiety was starting to rise again when he heard a hiss from the right. He knew before he looked that it was Bonzo, all too familiar with the other zombie's especially extreme fear of fire. Zed was trying to calm him but it didn't work. Bonzo flung him off and did the only thing he could ever think to do when he was this scared – he ran.

"Oh, Z, Bonzo...!" Izabelle rose to her feet, squeezing her head between her hands as she watched him run off. This wasn't good. This was _not_ good. She couldn't take her eyes off him. She might have gone after him, stopped him herself, but he was moving too fast. Then Zed was running, too, to catch the cheerleader who Izabelle hadn't even realised was in the air with nobody waiting on the floor for her. Someone – Hazen – touched her arm and she flinched before turning to him.

"Izabelle? Are you OK?"

"Am _I_ OK?" she snapped, "I'm more worried about if _Bonzo's_ OK!"

She caught herself too late and growled, balling up her hands into fists for a moment and closing her eyes, "Sorry, Haze, I just... _ugh_!"

She looked down again, but Bonzo was gone, as was Zed.

"Where'd he go?" Izabelle demanded, fixing each of the zombies with a glare, " _Where did Bonzo go?_ "

"Through the door at the back of the gym," Eliza answered, already standing up, "I'll go after him. You stay with Hazen."

Eliza hurried down the steps and Izabelle all but screamed at her, "Call me as soon as you find him!"

"I will!"

But a few minutes later, she still hadn't heard anything. It shouldn't take this long to find him, should it? With the whole Bonzo-running-off/Zed-saving-a-cheerleader thing over with, the cheer squad had returned to their positions and restarted the routine, but now Izabelle was distracted. She kept bouncing her leg and was gripping the seat till her knuckles turned somehow even whiter. Hazen picked up on it instantly.

"Izabelle, calm down," he placed a hand on her shoulder, "He'll be fine."

She just hummed lowly in response, keeping her eyes on the door.

"He couldn't have gotten far. Eliza's most likely making sure he's alright before she calls."

She scoffed and brought her left hand up.

Hazen eyed her warningly, "Don't start biting your Z-band again. You know you'll hur-"

"I'm _not_. I'm texting Eliza."

"Oh. OK."

 **Izabelle:** _What's taking so long?_

 **Eliza:** _Sorry, had to prize a patrol officer off him_

Izabelle scowled down at the screen and Hazen was starting to worry.

 **Eliza:** _Gotta take him home_

 **Izabelle:** _I said call as soon as you found him_

 **Izabelle:** _Now you're taking him home_

 **Izabelle:** _Without me?_

 **Eliza:** _I said I was sorry! The officer was gonna take him back to Zombie Town anyway, would you rather he go home in handcuffs?_

 **Izabelle:** _Do NOT leave the building without me_

Not even waiting for an answer, Izabelle got up, grabbed Hazen by the arm and pulled him down the steps.

"W-wait, what are you doing?

"I need to check on Bonzo," she stated.

"Why am I going?"

"Because I'm still watching you! It can't be a good idea to leave you alone with all these humans, especially after what just happened," she explained, then as an afterthought, "Besides, Zeke would lose his band if he found out I ran off without you."

Hazen only had to think about that for a second before nodding in agreement.


	20. Azure and Inez: Trouble

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

I'm mostly getting this one posted now because I haven't introduced Inez yet and she has a big part in the next chapter of Tattooed Mistakes (please give it a read if you haven't already! (And be prepared for some gore in chapter 1 only!)). This is based on another conversation I had on Tumblr with, I think, fist-it-out, probably months ago

I'm planning on returning to Another Girl, Another Zombie and doing more Bronzo one-shots soon, btw~

INEZ: the zombie with braids in red coveralls, usually seen with Azure  
ZULI (mentioned): the third zombie with braids in blue coveralls, seen with Azure and Inez in the first basement scene

* * *

Azure and Inez

Trouble

"Same time next week, Gus?"

Inez grinned, shooting Gus finger guns as she passed him on her way out of the containment facility. He gave a short, humourless laugh, barely even looking at her.

"Let's hope not."

"Aw, c'mon," she turned on her heel so she was walking backwards and threw open her arms, "You know you miss me when I'm not here!"

"Shall we test that theory? How about you stay outta trouble for once, see how much I miss you then?"

Inez scoffed jokingly and Gus shook his head, trying to get back to work. She stopped still and folded her arms, raising an eyebrow at him.

"You not even gonna say goodbye?"

"Inez!" her dad snapped from the door.

"Coming!" her smile never wavered as she waved to Gus and she sauntered over like she had all the time in the world.

"Inez, I am sick of having to come all the way down here to pick you up all the time. You sleep in a holding cell as often as you sleep in your own bed at home!"

She shrugged, "So why doesn't Mom pick me up next time?"

"That is not what I meant and you know it. You can't be getting the patrol called on you every other day. Are you proud of yourself, doing all this?"

"I was just out having fun! It's not my fault if I lose track of time and miss curfew."

"That'd be a fair excuse if it was only this one time. And if it was only ever for missing curfew. I don't know what else to do, you're in and out of zombie containment, we try grounding you and punishing you but nothing's changing!"

Inez said nothing.

– LIMELIGHT –

Azure opened her front door, already rolling her eyes, to find her best friend standing on her porch with a smile on her face. Azure gave Inez a blank look.

"So how's Gus doing?" she asked, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Inez sighed, shaking her head as she pushed past Azure and went inside, "Sorry to see me go, as always."

"Uh-huh..." Azure closed the door and followed Inez upstairs, "So, this is, what, the fourth time so far this month you've been held overnight?"

"Fourth already? Huh. Wow. Pretty sure Riza's only been held twice this month. I could break her record."

"Please don't make this a competition, Inez...!"

She chuckled and nudged Azure's shoulder, "I'm kidding! And it's only ever for little things, anyway, where's the harm in that?"

"For one thing, you could be a bad influence on my little sister."

"Like Zuli's gonna follow my lead. That girl's way too smart for that."

Azure sighed, "Then how about to get your parents off your back?"

Inez brought her hand to her chest, feigning offence, "What, you ain't gonna tell me it's not that she's too smart to act like me?"

"Oh, no, she is definitely too smart to act like you," she smirked at Inez's exaggerated pout, "Come on, what's gonna take to get you to tone it down?"

"Absolutely nothing."


	21. Izabelle: Homecoming

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Hey, guess what? New ship! I'm now shipping Izabelle with Zeke instead~! Some good old enemies-to-friends-to-lovers. We've gotten through the enemies stage with the last couple of Limelights about them so it's time to get into the friends stage. But that's just one part of this one-shot, this is mostly about Izabelle's relationship with Bonzo. But Zeke, Hazen, Riza and Zadie do still have some important roles ;)

I have a lot of Limelights planned atm to get through, some Zebelle, some Chanzie and a couple odd ones of other characters. And anyone who still hasn't read Tattooed Mistakes, if you like the BG zombies, especially Zephyr and Alonzo, and you also like angst, go check that out too!

A couple of new BGZ here

FRITZ: the zombie in the sleeveless coveralls at the cauli-brains stand who Zed throws the cauliflower to at the start of My Year  
DIAZ: the zombie in blue coveralls sitting on the car behind Eliza during Bonzo's rap

* * *

Izabelle

Homecoming

The Z-alert had finally stopped blaring and Izabelle slowly took her hands away from her ears and lifted her head. She could still hear the harsh ringing and the blurring of her vision was yet to fade. It certainly didn't help to have these humans on either side of her, shuffling about and shouting, instead of any of her friends or her cousin.

Her cousin.

The patrol had taken her cousin. They took Bonzo. He was gone.

The pounding in her head seemed to grow worse and the bright spots in front of her eyes that had started to dissipate instead only grew more unbearable. And Bonzo wasn't there. Bonzo was always the best to help her with sensory overload, seeing as he knew what it was like. Without him, though, she could usually rely on Riza or Zadie. But they were elsewhere in the stands – Iza had opted to find a spot closer to Bonzo to keep an eye on him. So much for that.

All she could do was force herself to stand on her shaky legs and push her way past the humans who were booing and hissing. The other zombies were also running for the steps, not wanting to stick around now that the humans were turning on them again. Izabelle, her hands pressed to her temples, could barely register who else was there with her as she hurried away from the noise but then she slowly began to recognise the zombie in front of her. Hazen clearly hadn't noticed her there yet, wanting to get as far from the angry humans as possible.

"Haze...?" she tried to call out but she was hyperventilating. It was enough to make him turn around, though, and his eyes widened when he saw her. He wasn't used to the sight of Izabelle in such a vulnerable state.

"Izabelle?" he pulled her closer and lead her off to one side, out of the way of the zombies and out of sight from the humans, "Oh, Z, what do I do...?" he muttered under his breath.

"Bonzka...!" Izabelle gasped, "Bonzka zav..." _Bonzo's gone..._

She pushed against him, craning her neck to see the zombie patrol driving away. As they drove out of view, she almost tried to run after them but Hazen grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Don't! Come on, just wait here, the others will come find us..."

 _Where the heck is Ze-_

"Hazen!"

He looked up to see Zeke running towards them and sighed in relief, "Zeke...! Where are Riza and Zadie?"

Zeke shook his head as he came to a stop, "I don't kn-" then he noticed how concerned Hazen looked, and how heavily Izabelle was breathing, and how Hazen was gripping her shoulders while she struggled. Zeke's brain instinctively switched to protective mode, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I think she's having a meltdown."

"Meltd- Wait, she's autistic too?"

Hazen nodded in response, "I-I don't really know what to do, just that she needs some kind of pressure. Riza and Zadie will know."

"Bonzka!" Izabelle snapped, trying to shove him off, "Quag Bonzka. Grog!" _I want Bonzo. Now!_

"Izabelle," Zeke's voice turned more soothing as he gently took hold of her and Hazen stepped back, moving away to look for the girls, "Bonzo's not here. I've got you, though, and Riza and Zadie will be here s-"

"There they are!" Hazen said, nudging him.

Riza barrelled right into Izabelle, pulling her close and out of Zeke's grasp. She reached one hand up to stroke her hair and Iza leaned into the touch, squeezing her eyes shut. Zeke could do nothing but watch. Zadie wasn't far behind and she went straight to questioning the boys.

"What happened?"

Zeke, for once, didn't know what to say. Normally, he was the one who knew what was wrong and how to fix it. But at least Hazen had managed to get a few words out of her before.

"I think the siren and all the panic had her in an overload. But she wanted Bonzo and..." he shrugged, "He's gone."

Izabelle broke out of Riza's arms and her hands immediately came up to squeeze her head as she started pacing back and forth.

"Gozrea Bonzka? Agru zav. Ag zrag Bonzka." _Where's Bonzo? He's gone. I need Bonzo._

This time Zadie grabbed her, also stroking her hair, and Riza turned to Zeke and Hazen.

"We'll take her home. The only thing we can do is wait it out, we can't get Bonzo back for her. She'll come out of it once she's somewhere safe."

Hazen nodded while Zeke just stood there, lost in thought, as Izabelle was ushered away by her friends. Zadie gently lowered Izabelle's hand when she raised it to her mouth to try and bite her Z-band and Riza walked back over.

"Hazen, you got any candy or something in there?"

"Uh," he removed his bag from his shoulder and looked inside, "Taffy tongues...?"

"Perfect. Hand 'em over," Riza took them, waving them in the air when Zeke gave her a questioning look, "Better than chewing her band. Thanks, guys." She gave a two-finger salute and was gone.

 _So_ that's _why she bites her band when she's stressed_ , Zeke thought. It wasn't just another random act of aggression when there was no-one around to take her anger out on, it was a way of calming her senses.

"Zeke? What's up?" Hazen's voice brought him back to reality and Zeke blinked, shaking his head slightly.

"It's nothing, I just..." he paused and frowned, "How did I never realise? I'm supposed to know how to help any of my friends whenever they need it."

"... You'd call Izabelle your friend?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, I know we fight over stuff all the time but... she is my friend, isn't she?"

Hazen shrugged, "You'd have to ask her that. But good luck, it's not easy getting her to admit she likes anyone."

– LIMELIGHT –

Izabelle was beginning to relax by the time she got home but she was exhausted; the meltdown had drained every last scrap of energy she had and she flopped, face down, onto her bed. Riza and Zadie had followed her up the stairs to her room. Zadie sat down beside her and Riza perched on the end of the bed.

"You gonna be OK?" Zadie asked and Izabelle rolled over, brushing her hair out of her eyes and staring at the ceiling.

"I think so," she sighed, "I'll be fine once Bonzo's back."

Riza cringed, "He'll be in there for a few days, Iza," she tried to be gentle, "This is bigger than any time _we've_ been in zombie containment."

"I'm not leaving my room until he comes back."

"That seems a little extreme..."

" _You're_ calling _me_ extreme?" Izabelle barely even moved and Riza narrowed her eyes.

"Touché..."

Izabelle slowly sat up, leaning back on her hands and staring forward, "... I don't feel like I can do anything."

"You had an overload _and_ a meltdown," Zadie pointed out, "It totally wiped you out. You'll be back to wreaking havoc in like, two hours, tops."

"Mmm..." Izabelle groaned and lay down again, "It's gonna take more than a couple hours, I am _dead_ to the world."

Zadie patted her shoulder, "Just don't stay cooped up in here for three days straight."

"Or we'll drag you outside ourselves," Riza added.

"By your ankles," Zadie finished with a sharp look at Izabelle and she laughed.

"No promises. I could sleep the rest of today. Who knows about tomorrow?"

"If you're going to sleep, then sleep," Zadie stood up and reached across to give Izabelle's hair one last stroke, "'Night."

"Night..." Izabelle lazily waved a hand and she shuffled along the bed to pull the covers over herself. Riza and Zadie waved back and headed for the door.

– LIMELIGHT –

In the end, Izabelle did leave the house before Bonzo and his friends returned to Zombie Town, only once or twice, but still. It was three days later when Riza came pounding on her door and Iza flung it open ready to yell at her, but then she saw the excited expression on her face and she stopped.

"What is it?"

"He's back! I just saw him talking to Zed outside his house!"

"What?" Izabelle pushed her aside, "Out of my way."

She took off down the street, leaving Riza shaking her head with a smile on her face.

Hazen stood watching as Zeke, Diaz and Fritz raced back and forth, over fences and across walls, until Zeke was almost knocked over by someone running right past him. He easily steadied himself and turned to see who it was.

" _Izabelle?_ "

She looked back and he was surprised to see a wide grin on her face. She'd been especially moody since the homecoming game but something big must have happened to lift her spirits so high.

"What's up with her?" Diaz wondered out loud and Fritz shrugged. Zeke just kept staring.

Izabelle paused just long enough to answer. She was bouncing with glee, unable to stand still for even a second in her happiness.

"Bonzo's home!"

Watching her bound off again, Zeke couldn't help letting the corner of his mouth quirk up.

Fritz nudged him, "What are you smiling about?"

"What?" Zeke furrowed his brow, suddenly feeling defensive, "Am I not allowed to be happy for my friend?"

Fritz and Diaz both looked doubtful but Hazen's expression was more reassuring, and it was Hazen's opinion that mattered most to him.

– LIMELIGHT –

Izabelle could spot Bonzo from a mile away. Evidently, Zed had left in the time it took for her to get there and now, her cousin was kneeling on the ground wearing his mask as he spray-painted the box in front of him white. He pulled the mask down so it hung around his neck just in time for Izabelle to come crashing into him, dropping to her knees and hugging him. Bonzo stumbled back, catching himself with one hand on the sidewalk behind him while his other arm wrapped around Izabelle. They both laughed.

"Gralzig...!"

"Ru gralzig, Izaka." _You're the shrimp, Iza._

"Gry!" _Shut up!_ She pulled back and scowled at him but couldn't help smiling again and held him tighter, "Ag gralzig janook... Ag zazig zorog..." _My baby cousin... I was so worried..._

"Regur grog."

 _I'm back now._


	22. Izabelle, Riza and Zadie: Revenge

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Some good old fashioned Terrible Trio, without Zeke and Hazen (they do get mentioned tho, don't worry~). I decided after the first Terrible Trio one-shot that the guy who threw the rock at Iza was the same guy she danced with at the block party. Then I noticed he has Zombie-tongue letters on his t-shirt in the party scene and this happened

TRAVIS: the human Izabelle dances with at the block party  
SUZANNE: the zombie girl in red seen with Hazen when they pass the NO ZOMBIES graffiti

* * *

Izabelle, Riza and Zadie

Revenge

He looked... familiar...

Izabelle had definitely seen this boy somewhere before, but she just couldn't place it. And not just around school. She had come to recognise a few human faces at Seabrook High over the last couple of months, but she was sure she had seen this particular human even before that. Which didn't make much sense, seeing as the younger generation of zombies hadn't really mixed with humans before they started attending school with them, and Izabelle had never wanted to interact with them in the first place. To be perfectly honest, she was even steering clear of them as much as she could now that they went to the same school. So where had she...

Then it hit her.

" _What, you freaks never seen real people before?"_

The day, almost a year ago now, when she, Riza and Zadie had spotted two human boys climbing over the barrier.

" _Oh, it speaks English!"_

She had tried to just walk away. She really did. But he pushed her too far.

" _You've got a lot of nerve walking away from us, braindead runt."_

The memory of it alone was enough to make her eyes narrow and her lip curl up in a sneer. But there wasn't time for that. The block party was beginning and the other zombies were welcoming the humans.

Riza and Zadie were by her side, as always, and noticed how fixated she was on whatever she was looking at. Riza crouched slightly to follow her line of sight then gave her a confused frown.

"... Why are you staring at that guy?"

Izabelle jumped and punched Riza's arm, giving her a look of disgust.

"You're not going soft on us, are you, Iza?" Riza quirked an eyebrow.

Izabelle gaped in disbelief, "Are you insane?" Riza smirked and opened her mouth to respond but Iza interrupted her with a roll of her eyes, "Don't answer that. You don't recognise him?"

Both Riza and Zadie briefly glanced at the human boy, but were only more confused.

"No?"

"That's the drak who threw a rock at me and called me a braindead runt."

There was a pause as Izabelle continued to watch him. She noticed a group of people – zombies and humans – switching jackets. Roz was handing theirs over to the cheerleader Bonzo so obviously had heart eyes for. Iza looked back at the boy and Zadie leaned in.

"You're planning something."

A sly smile spread across Izabelle's face but she said nothing.

"Some would say other humans have done plenty worse than he has," Riza joked, faking a disappointed tone. Zadie copied her.

"Some would say it's been a year and you should just let it go already."

Izabelle cocked her head, looking off into the distance, "Some would also say petty revenge isn't the answer."

Zadie grinned, "So what do you say?"

"I say give me about five minutes and some of Bonzo's paint and I'll show you just how petty I can be."

– LIMELIGHT –

Izabelle easily snuck into her cousin's house without anyone noticing. Her aunt and uncle were home, obviously not interested in joining the party, but all she had to do was tell them she was getting something from Bonzo's room and they left her to it. She found a small pot of black fabric paint (and a brush) and skipped back down the stairs and out the door. Riza and Zadie were waiting for her.

"So, how are you gonna do it?" Riza asked, "You can't get close to him without him noticing."

"Who says he can't notice? He just can't know what I'm gonna paint. And I don't think he can read Zombie-tongue."

"What, you're just going to walk right over to him? What if he recognises you?"

"Doubt he would," Iza shrugged, "You didn't recognise him. I only did because I'm bitter."

Zadie brought a hand to her heart, "You're an inspiration."

"I know," with a flip of her hair, Izabelle sauntered off.

She got lucky – he had no idea who she was. But honestly, that just irritated her more. He probably thought all zombies looked the same. She bit back a grimace and put on a fake smile.

"No-one to switch with, huh?" She gestured to the other zombies and humans wearing each other's jackets. The boy – Travis, as she had picked up – shook his head and laughed lightly.

"Nope."

"I don't have a jacket or anything, but I do have this," she held up the fabric paint, "You know my cousin, Bonzo?" Travis nodded. People did recognise Zed's friends by now, "He paints Zombie-tongue all over his clothes, how 'bout something like that?"

He agreed.

 _... Drak..._

He didn't even really question what Izabelle was writing as she scrawled every Zombie swear and insult she could think of across his t-shirt. It was subtle, but the self-satisfaction would be enough for her. For now, at least.

He actually had the nerve to ask her to dance then and she had to pretend her laughter was more flattered than 'I'd-rather-set-myself-on-fire'. But dancing meant he'd be on display for the other zombies to see her handiwork, and they wouldn't be able interrupt the dance to do anything about it. And it was _BAMM_ – it wasn't like she would have to _touch_ him.

Before the music started, Izabelle returned to Riza and Zadie, who had been watching, snickering to each other and trying hard to read every word on the shirt from where they stood on the other side of the street.

"Good thing the boys aren't here," Riza bit her lip but it didn't stop her laughing.

"I wish they were!" Zadie giggled, "Imagine the look on Hazen's face if he saw that! And I bet Zeke would actually find it funny."

"Then he'd fake like he was disappointed when Hazen started going off about it!"

Now, every zombie Travis spoke to seemed unable to take him seriously. He said hi to Suzanne and she gave him a once over, snorted and walked away with a wave of her hand. Inez immediately guessed who did it and shot Izabelle an impressed look. The guys of BFZ, about to perform, were nudging each other and pointing at Travis behind his back as they made their way over to where their instruments had been set up.

A tall shadow fell on the girls and they turned to find Bonzo standing there, looking down at Izabelle. And he did not look happy. He pointed at Travis.

"Ru?"

Izabelle nodded, completely shameless, "Yup."

Bonzo pointed to himself, " _Z'ag_ grarg zig?" _With_ my _paint?_

She nodded again and he held out a hand, palm facing up, and she gave him the pot and brush with a smug smile. Bonzo shook his head as he slipped his art case from his shoulder and put them away, then he moved along with nothing more than an 'I'm-watching-you' motion at Iza.

The three girls burst out laughing again.


	23. Zeke and Izabelle: Changes

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Time for some Zebelle! This whole week should be filled with shippy Limelights to get ready for next week's Christmas fics! Get ready for Zebelle, Chanzie and Rozeira, probably even a new one-shot everyday~!

* * *

Zeke and Izabelle

Changes

When the trio arrived at school that day, they found Hazen sitting down, nervously watching as Zeke paced back and forth. He had his head down, obviously lost in thought, and the girls looked at each other in confusion. Izabelle sat on the edge of the table near Hazen, Zadie leaning her hip against it with her arms folded and Riza placing her hands down on it. They all waited to see if Zeke was going to do anything but after a minute, Iza turned to Hazen.

"What's up with him?"

Hazen glanced at her and shrugged before he looked back at his best friend. Izabelle casually leaned back on her hands. She swung her leg a couple of times and when he passed by, Izabelle (gently) kicked him. That finally got his attention and he stopped, frowning at her.

"What was that for?"

"You were zoning out," she said simply, which made Zeke roll his eyes.

"I wasn't zoning out, I'm trying to think."

Izabelle held out a hand in fake concern, "Don't hurt yourself!"

"Very funny."

Zeke stopped pacing and sat down next to Hazen, but he still didn't seem to be paying much attention while the girls were talking.

Hazen tipped his head towards him and asked quietly, "Seriously, what are you thinking about?"

Opening his mouth to speak, Zeke took one look at the three girls and clammed up, shaking his head. Riza shoved his shoulder, meaning for it to be rough but she wasn't strong enough to actually make him budge.

"Come on, you can tell us!"

Zeke just slowly blinked at her, but then he turned to address all four of them.

"... I kinda wanna try-out for the cheer squad."

Izabelle snorted, "Alright, Mr Wouldn't-Be-Caught-Dead-At-A-Pep-Rally."

"Here we go..." Hazen groaned and dropped his head into his hand.

Zeke pushed himself back from the table and threw open his arms, "Look, I can be the bigger person here. I'm admitting I was wrong."

Izabelle ignored the point he was making and narrowed her eyes, "Was that a short joke?"

He dropped his arms to his sides, then awkwardly pointed at her, "Not... intentionally, but I'm sticking to it."

She propped her elbow up on her knee and held her chin in her hand, "You know I'm gonna mock you forever if you join the squad. Even more if you try out and don't make it, which, honestly, you probably won't..." she sat up straight again, a wide smile on her face, "So I say go for it!"

He stared blankly at her for a second.

"... Ignoring that. The championship was a lot of fun. I do parkour around Zombie Town but I don't get a lot of chances to really perform like that."

"You perform at the zombie mash all the time," Hazen said but Zeke tilted his head back and shrugged.

"Yeah, but it's just for fun at the zombie mash, I want to try competing again."

Izabelle look down, her eyebrows shooting upwards, "In that uniform..."

Zadie and Riza sniggered with her but once again, Zeke brushed it off.

"It's only weird if you make it weird, Izabelle."

"Oh, I'm making it weird," she giggled, "Good luck trying to convince Bucky."

That only made him smirk, "Things are changing, Izabelle. Even Bucky could surprise you. Remember what happened at the competition."

She had to give him that, at least. It had been a couple of days since the championships and already there had been signs of some progress in the right direction, including Bucky making some kind of attempt to be more open to the zombies. Maybe he was right.

She would still make fun of him for being a hypocrite, though.

– LIMELIGHT –

Izabelle could admit she was friends with Zeke at this point, so he got a pass just the same as Hazen and Roz did. However, a 'pass' from her only really meant from physical harm. Jokes and insults were still acceptable as she saw fit. And no matter how tough other people thought he was, Izabelle saw his soft side far more often, seeing as most of the time she spent around Zeke was when he was also with Hazen. And he avoided getting too physical with anyone when Hazen was around. She couldn't remember the last time she saw him get into a _real_ fight; he was more likely to just talk someone down. Aggressively, yes, but still.

Until one day later that week when some random human decided to comment on Zeke's insistence that zombies be given a chance to try-out for cheer, and other teams, seeing as they'd missed the chance at the start of the year. Not everyone had warmed up to the zombies yet, apparently. They could put up with them being in their school, but letting them onto their precious, perfect cheer squad? That was too far.

Hazen wasn't there to talk him out of it when he punched the human in the face. Fritz and Diaz, on either side of him, jumped but they knew better than to get it the way when he was like this. Not too far away, the trio were quickly alerted to the sound of conflict. Izabelle, along with Riza and Zadie, ran to get a closer look, and they were not disappointed.

" _Finally...!_ " Riza laughed and Zadie joined her.

"So this is what he's like when Hazen's not around."

Meanwhile, Izabelle was watching Zeke's every move in total awe. It was impressive. She'd heard he could get a little rough-and-tumble with his younger brother and sister, but this was something totally different.

When had she started cheering his name...?

He was landing every blow, never backing down, never hesitating and seemingly never getting tired. His expression was one of pure rage and determination, making Izabelle feel strangely... proud? Was that what she was feeling? She didn't have time to think about it, though, because it was then that Hazen showed up, desperately pulling Zeke away. Zeke continued to glower down at the human, panting heavily.

"You'll think next time before you say something like that again, won't you?" he spat and ushered Hazen away. Izabelle hopped up, Riza and Zadie right behind her, and followed after them, all three with smug smiles. While Riza and Zadie stepped around the human still on the floor, Iza opted instead for walking right over him. She may be small and light, but no-one wanted a 15-year-old zombie girl standing right on their chest, even for a split second, and that gave her almost as much satisfaction as it had to watch the fight at all. As she, Riza and Zadie slipped past Zeke and Hazen, Iza spun round to throw Zeke an approving smile, "You know, I respected you before, but I might actually be starting to like you now."

Izabelle could admit she was _friends_ with Zeke. Anything else... well, she wasn't even going to admit _that_ to herself.

She turned her back on him and continued on down the hall. Zeke paused. He couldn't help staring for some reason as his lips slowly quirked up.

Hazen's eyes shifted from Zeke to Izabelle and back again. He nodded to himself, "I knew it."

"What?"

"You like Izabelle."

" _What?_ "

"You keep staring at her like that."

Zeke suddenly felt self-conscious, "Like what?"

" _Like that!_ " he gestured to Zeke's face, "The same way you were staring at her after the homecoming game. And when Bonzo got back home."

"C'mon, man, I don't like _Izabelle_ , I just..." it was impossible for him not to look back at her one more time, "I-" he could see how she was talking and laughing and it made his chest feel tight, "... Oh, my Z, I like Izabelle...!"


	24. Roz: A Fan

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't. The song Love Goes Boom is by Bowling For Soup

I tried to get this one done last night but then I fell asleep at the laptop again :/ Which means two one-shots today! There should be a Chanzie one coming very soon~ And then Zebelle tomorrow!

* * *

Roz

A Fan

"Roz?"

Their head snapped up, "What?"

Zephyr gave them a worried look, "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, why?"

" _You're awake_ ," he said flatly and raised an eyebrow, "Rehearsal's over, there's, like, a whole hour until the zombie mash, and you're _awake_."

Roz shrugged, refusing to meet his eyes, "So what?"

" _So_ , you're nervous. You don't get nervous before gigs, Roz."

"Sure I do."

"No, you don't. Normally, you're so chill about it you take a nap once rehearsal ends and then you're out cold till we're about to go onstage. So, what's up?"

"Just..." Roz waved a hand vaguely, "Y'know, there's humans here this time..."

After the success of the block party last week, the zombie teens had agreed to let some of their new human friends come to a zombie mash. But Roz was getting along with a lot of them now, why would that make them nervous...?

"You..." a knowing smirk spread its way across Zephyr's face, "Invited Keira...!"

Roz closed their eyes, silently begging for him to stop before he had even begun, "Yeah, and I'm already starting to regret it."

" _What?_ " Zephyr laughed a little, putting an arm around Roz's shoulders and shaking them slightly, "Dude, come on, this is your chance to show her how cool you are."

They opened their eyes again and shook their head before looking up at him, "I really don't feel cool, Zeph."

"You're in a _band_!"

"Didn't you think starting a band was a stupid idea when Al first came up with it?"

"Shut up."

They both laughed but it didn't do much for Roz's confidence levels, "We're a cover band. For a group almost no-one in Seabrook knows. It's not that cool."

"Keira knows them, right? You said she was a fan."

"Yeah..."

"And she did say she was coming?"

"Yeah."

"Because you asked her," he nudged their arm playfully, "'Cause she thinks your cool."

– LIMELIGHT –

People were starting to arrive and each group of zombies that appeared were joined by a couple of humans. Every single time the elevator doors opened, Roz was craning their neck to get a good look at who was there, but when there was no sign of Keira, she sighed and turned back to the guys, her shoulders sagging.

"Just be patient, she'll be here," Zach assured her, "There's plenty of time."

He, Alonzo and Zephyr watched as Roz whipped round again.

Al shook his head, "Aaaand she's not listening."

Keira still hadn't shown up yet, though, and Roz huffed as they dropped their head into their hand. After a brief moment of thought, she frowned up at Zephyr, "D'you think she was just trying to be nice at the block party?"

He rolled his eyes, even exaggeratedly tipping his head back, "She'll be here...!" He was getting a little tired of this by now. He glanced off to the side for a second but then did a double take and smiled. Roz hadn't noticed, but now Alonzo and Zach were both holding back grins. Zephyr looked back down at them, "Hey, Roz?"

"What?"

Without a word, Zephyr prodded her cheek with one finger and pushed her head round to look at the elevator. Standing there with Mackenzie and Mitzi, eyes scanning the room, was Keira. The three boys all shared a knowing look as Roz stared. Then Keira finally spotted her and when their eyes met, she beamed.

Roz suddenly heard Al's singing right by her ear, " _S-s-s-saw you in December...!_ " and immediately smacked him away.

"It's not December yet."

He just laughed, "Close enough! That's your song now."

"A little early for picking a song, there, Al," Roz tried to sound casual but they couldn't hide it – their voice was getting higher than usual and they wouldn't stop smiling. They brought a hand to their chest and their face dropped, "Was that a heartbeat?"

The boys all replied in unison, "Probably."

She hesitated for a moment before Zephyr lightly punched her arm and nodded towards Keira, who was just waving goodbye to Kenzie and Mitzi as they walked away, "Go on. Go for it."

He winked at her and gave her a push. Roz shot him an annoyed look which quickly turned grateful. She'd never work up the courage to do this without him. Taking a breath, she approached Keira.

"Roz!" she cheered and threw her arms around them, making them blush just a little bit as they returned the hug.

"Hey, I was almost thinking you weren't gonna make it...!" they admitted as they stepped back, brushing a stray lock of hair from their eyes, and Keira shook her head with a soft laugh. Roz could have melted at the sound.

"No way! I am _not_ missing this. Besides, I _need_ to hear your band play, I have been waiting for this all week!"

"You have?"

"Mm-hmm, I even dug up some of my old Bowling For Soup CDs. I'm so ready for this...!" she clapped her hands together and Roz could really tell just how excited she was. _No pressure..._ "And the whole zombie mash thing in general! You know, just... really getting to know you..." her eyes widened, "Y-you guys...!" she added and smiled just a bit awkwardly.

"Right..." Roz just nodded and smiled dumbly.

They talked a little longer then Roz cast a quick glance back at Zephyr, Al and Zach. Zeph gestured for them to go and they took the opportunity to ask Keira to dance – Bonzo would have the floor for another ten or fifteen minutes or so before BFZ's set. When Roz finally tore themself away from Keira to join the band by the stage, they found the guys all staring eagerly at them.

"... What?"

Zephyr spoke first, "You talked to her?"

"Yeah?"

Then Zach, "And you danced with her?"

"Yeah."

And Alonzo, grinning slyly, "And you're all set to show her your skills?"

Roz returned the grin, "Hell yeah."

Zach wiped a fake tear from his eye and pulled Roz into a hug, "Look at you, the baby of the band, all grown up...!"

They groaned in protest, "Zach, you're still single."

He shoved her away, in the most dramatic way possible, " _Well, at least I'm not the only one...!_ "

Zephyr and Alonzo shared a look then, Al smirking and Zeph nervously biting his lip.

"Uh, you... kind of are, actually..." Zephyr smiled at Zach, half apologetic, half smug.

"Wait, seriously?" Roz gaped.

"Since when?"

"Since, like," Zephyr shrugged, Al wrapping an arm around him, "... Yesterday?"

There was silence. Roz and Zach turned from them to each other, then suddenly Roz snapped her fingers and held out her hand to him.

" _Pay up!_ "


	25. Chaz and Mackenzie: Doubt

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

And the second one-shot of the day~! Very short, especially compared to the Limelights I've been writing lately. But it's enough :)

* * *

Chaz and Mackenzie

Doubt

Despite the fact that the block party was still going on around her, Mitzi found Mackenzie sitting alone out of the way of anybody else with a large slice of cake on a place. Or, it had been a large slice of cake. Now it was closer to an average slice but she had obviously already eaten at least half.

"Kenzie...?" Mitzi cocked her head, "What's wrong?"

Pouting, Mackenzie slowly lifted her head to look at Mitzi, "Chaz was dancing with a cheerleader during _BAMM_!"

Mitzi was instantly way less concerned.

"Kenzie. _You_ danced with a cheerleader. _I_ danced with a cheerleader! We all danced with cheerleaders!" she placed an arm on her friend's shoulder, "It's not worth getting so worked up over."

"We didn't all dance with _assistant captains_ , though."

"Rizzo did."

"Doesn't count – she's aromantic."

"Zephyr, then."

"Are you kidding me? He's so glued to Alonzo it's not even funny."

"Then why is it so hard to believe Chaz isn't the same with you?"

"Because! He's so..." she gestured vaguely, "... _Chaz_!"

"You make a very compelling argument," Mitzi said sarcastically, her chin in her hand. Mackenzie shovelled another forkful of cake into her mouth.

"What do I do, Mitz?" she mumbled.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, for one thing."

Mackenzie feigned offence, deliberately letting a chunk of cake drop out of her mouth as she gaped at Mitzi, who was trying not to laugh, "I am _distraught_! I don't have time to worry about where my food's going."

Mitzi managed to keep a straight face and folded her arms, "That is the first, and probably the last, time I've ever heard you say that," she said plainly and Mackenzie continued to look right at her as she ate. Mitzi sighed, "Ken, stop being so paranoid. I'm pretty sure Chaz likes you. OK? So, go and talk to him or if you really can't, then just relax and he'll come to you sooner or later!"

"How do you know?"

"I just know."

Mitzi always seemed to know.

– LIMELIGHT –

"She was dancing with a cheerleader..."

"So? It doesn't have to mean anything."

"But what if it does, Tez?"

"Did it mean anything for _you_ to dance with a cheerleader?"

"No?"

"Well then!"


	26. Zeke and Izabelle: Nothing

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Time for some major development in Zebelle! I think this was actually the very first thing I came up with when I started shipping them. At least, I knew really early on I wanted it to go in this direction. Fun times are coming~

Tomorrow there should be both another Rozeira one-shot and also a Bonzo Day Limelight where he's with Izabelle and Paizley.

* * *

Zeke and Izabelle

"Nothing"

Something was up. Izabelle had noticed Zeke was acting differently around her these past few days, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly why. What she hadn't noticed was that she was acting different, too. And the changes in both of their demeanours had come around the same time – that fight. The fight between Zeke and the human who disagreed about zombies joining more teams. Izabelle had eased up on him, considerably, and Zeke had taken to some much more light-hearted teasing than what they, and their friends, and been used to. Riza, Zadie, Fritz and Diaz took the shift in dynamic as just how Iza and Zeke's friendship was turning out. Zeke and Hazen, of course, knew better. But Izabelle... Izabelle couldn't grasp _what_ she was feeling. All she knew was she was really starting to like having Zeke around.

That still didn't stop them from arguing.

It was the end of the school day and Zeke and Izabelle had just been in class together, without any of the others around to keep an eye on them, and at this point, they were already halfway through another disagreement. Neither one of them even remembered how it started but it kept them distracted long enough to be the last ones out the door and while Iza continued to rant, Zeke couldn't help being amused watching her.

He chuckled lightly and muttered just loudly enough for her to hear, "You're cute, y'know that?"

She froze. Her eyebrows shot up and her mouth fell open, but Zeke could tell it wasn't in a good way. She was _seething_.

"Did you just call me _cute_?"

Zeke thought for a moment. Why deny it? She _was_ cute. It was just that everyone else was too afraid of her to admit it.

"Yeah," he nodded and shrugged casually, keeping his face neutral, "Yeah, I did."

Izabelle smiled that sweet smile that usually meant all hell was about to break loose. She folded her arms, titled her chin up and locked eyes with him. He stood his ground.

"I'd have thought you'd learned your lesson by now," she said calmly, another bad sign, but Zeke wasn't going to take it back, "Just 'cause we're friends it doesn't mean you can get away with saying that."

Smirking, Zeke tipped his head forward and she scowled.

"It's a compliment, Izabelle. I'm not trying to pick a fight here, I'm just saying. You're cute."

"Oh, you're gonna get it now...!" she charged towards him, raising a fist but he easily caught it.

"Are you seriously that mad that I think you're cute?"

"You're getting a little too comfortable here. We might be cool now but if you wanna start treating me like a baby, we're gonna have a problem."

That surprised him, "I'm not calling you a _baby_! I didn't mean it like that," he explained and she faltered, her scowl looking a little more like a pout. He almost saw the slightest hint of a blush dusting her cheeks but she hid it well.

"So, what _did_ you mean?" she demanded. She still wasn't going to calm down.

"I meant exactly what I said; you're _cute_."

"OK. _I'm_ cute," she grabbed hold of the front of his coveralls and yanked him down to her level, "And _you_...!" but somehow him being so close made her mind go blank, and the confusion that this caused her just made her rage increase. She tried to remain composed, but Izabelle had never been good at that, "Y-you...!"

For once, she had no idea what to say. Every insult she could hurl at him was gone from her thoughts and she couldn't read his expression as he stared into her eyes. He was clearly nervous, but there was something very different about it this time. As far as Izabelle could see, Zeke shouldn't have any reason to be so nervous right now. He could take her on in a fight, they were evenly matched in practically every way, and now that she saw him as a real friend, she wasn't going to resort to cheap tricks to get the best of him. She fought fair with him, and he knew that. Still, it seemed neither of them were going to make a move. They just looked at one another, Zeke's eyes scanning Izabelle's frowning face as she tried to figure out what was going on. He wasn't touching her, but his hands were hovering near her waist. Even that was making her tense and she didn't understand why. Eventually, she decided to just give in to her instincts and let whatever action her body would take happen. She really wasn't expecting what that action would be. With a frustrated growl, Izabelle pulled Zeke closer towards her and found herself pressing her lips to his as her eyes fell shut.

She loosened her grip almost instantly and her hands rested against his chest instead. And it somehow felt right. Until Zeke was kissing her back and his fingertips finally brushed against her waist and Izabelle realised what she was doing. She shoved him back, her eyes bulging with rage, and with fear.

"Get _off_ me!"

Zeke's jaw dropped. His mouth opened and closed, floundering for words.

"Wh- I-" he stammered, " _You_ kissed _me_!"

"Why the hell _would_ I?" she yelled, looking disgusted, and Zeke suddenly felt discouraged.

She hadn't been thinking. It didn't mean anything. It was a mistake. And he had probably ruined it by returning the kiss. But as Izabelle forcefully pushed him aside and strode past, he caught the look of confusion and nervousness on her face. It automatically made his compassionate side come out and he reached for her arm.

"Izabelle..." his voice was gentle and he was looking at her with such kind eyes. For a split second, he thought he saw her soften slightly, but then she snatched her hand away and stepped back, glaring at him.

"Don't," she snapped, "Even. Touch me. _Blakeley_."

She whipped around and stormed off, leaving him to stare after her.

That shouldn't have hurt so much. They'd only really been hanging out for a few months, and had only considered each other to be _actual friends_ for barely a couple of weeks. It wasn't long ago that she had almost always referred to him by his last name, but he had gotten so used to hearing her call him Zeke all the time, and more recently, to seeing her smile and laugh when she said it. He realised just how relaxed they had become around one another.

Letting out a huff, he followed her down the hall towards the lockers, staying a few feet behind her. Riza and Zadie were waiting by Iza's locker for her and looked up as she approached.

"Hey, what's up?" Riza asked when she got close enough, "You look like you're ready to break someone's neck."

"I _might_ be." Izabelle didn't even look at her as she opened the door and quickly gathered up whatever she needed, ready to head home, when Zeke caught up with her. He made his way over and, seeing the other two there, he leaned in close to keep them from listening.

"Come on, Izabelle, you can't act like that didn't happen."

Zadie heard him, though, and glanced from Zeke to Iza, "Like what didn't happen?"

Zeke opened his mouth but Iza slammed the locker shut, "Nothing," she said simply to the girls then glared at Zeke, " _Nothing_."

He sighed, taking the hint, and leaned back against the lockers just as Hazen appeared, having overheard, "Please don't tell me you're fighting again, you were getting alone so well!"

Zeke held up a hand to him, "We're not fighting."

"I'd rather be fighting," Izabelle muttered under her breath. She was about to leave but before she did, she shot one last, cold look at Zeke, "Not one word, Blakeley, or you're dead."

"Iz-" but she was already gone.

Hazen and the girls were confused, "What's going on?"

"Nothing, apparently."

Zeke didn't take his eyes off Izabelle as she passed by the other students lining the hall who all parted to let her through. A moment later, he ran after her. He followed her outside and picked up the pace, soon walking alongside her.

"What was that about?"

She avoided looking at him, "What was _what_ about?"

"Uh, you kissing me?"

" _That_ ," Izabelle let out a short, fake laugh, "Didn't happen."

He took hold of her wrist and forced her to stop. She tried to pull her arm away but he wouldn't let her, "You wanna keep that hand?"

"We are talking about this."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"I think there is."

"Well, you think wrong."

She finally managed to pull her arm away and this time, he let her go. He'd have to figure out another way to do this.


	27. Paizley and Izabelle: Research

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Happy Bonzo Day! Here's a Limelight featuring Bonzo and the autistic BGZ~ This is one is set a year or so before the movie, it leads on from the Helping Hack and Runs In The Family one-shots from Beyond the Barrier

There'll be another Limelight coming a little bit later for Rozeira~

* * *

Paizley and Izabelle

Research

Izabelle and Bonzo had been trying to find more on autism but it was proving to be hard; a lot of websites were blocked in Zombie Town and beyond that, it was difficult to get a decent internet connection at all. And to top it all off, very few zombies had working computers. Eliza had lent Bonzo hers for a short time but soon demanded it back. He didn't blame her, it was her most prized possession, but it didn't change the fact that they were pretty much lost without it. There was even less hope of finding any books on the subject, considering how little the humans cared for zombie mental health and therefore didn't really make anything of use to them available. And neither of them were willing to go to the containment facility of their own accord for _any_ reason.

"What about Zora? She's got a computer," Izabelle suggested but Bonzo just shook his head.

"Gograll. Agru briz." _I asked her. She's using it._

Izabelle scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Zadie could pick her lock for us, I can just take i-"

" _Zon!_ " her cousin glared sharply at her and she held up her hands in defeat.

"I don't see you coming up with anything!"

Bonzo huffed and turned away, thinking. After a moment, his eyes widened and he perked up, "Paizka!"

Izabelle closed her eyes, slowly inhaled, exhaled, and opened her eyes again. Paizley... irritated her, "Alright."

– LIMELIGHT –

"Sorry, guys, I kinda took it apart."

"... You _what_?" Izabelle said through gritted teeth. She and Bonzo were standing on the Reilig family's porch with Paizley leaning against the open front door.

Paizley barely even noticed her anger, "It's called reverse engineering! You take something apart so you c-"

Izabelle groaned loudly enough to shut her up, Bonzo stopping her before she could even reach out her hands towards Paizley's neck. He pulled her back and she folded her arms with a pout. Paizley cocked her head.

"Why'd you want a computer anyway?"

"Zrudge. Agz zrag zreene grozig." _Research. We need to find something out._

"Hmm..." Paizley looked up, twisting her face in thought, "Come on inside, maybe we've got a book on whatever you need." She gestured for them to follow her as she headed in. In the living room was a tall bookshelf piled high with books of every size, all old and worn. From the recycling plant her parents worked at, they guessed, or maybe even the dump, "What are you looking for...?" Paizley asked as she walked up to it.

"Doubt you'll have anything, Paiz, it's not too _Seabrook_."

Paizley just shot her a teasing smile, "Try me. What is it?"

Bonzo tapped his head, "Garzedd bragan."

Nodding, Paizley ran a finger along a line of books, "Mental health. May not be Seabrook's thing, but they did have books on that stuff once upon a time..." she kept scanning as she talked, "In fact, they only really started banning literature on it a few years ago. You want anything specific?"

Izabelle shared a look of surprise with Bonzo then raised an eyebrow, "... Autism?"

For some reason, Paizley let out an excited laugh and grabbed a book off the shelf with such certainty that Bonzo and Izabelle were both taken aback as she flicked through it in search of particular page.

"OK, let me guess," she grinned up at them briefly as she went, "You guys are thinking you're autistic too?"

"What do you mean 'too'?" Izabelle frowned but Bonzo's face lit up.

"Ru, zet, Paizka?"

"Yup! My parents always knew I was kind of a weird kid, everybody did, but we never knew why," she shrugged, "Then my mom found this at work when I was like, 9 or something and things just started to click. It's a little outdated but it's got all the technical stuff about diagnosis and all that. It's good enough..." she stopped flipping, "Found i- Hey!"

Izabelle had already snatched the book out of her hands before she could finish. Bonzo rolled his eyes.

"Abraz'agru." _Sorry about her._

Paizley didn't seem to hear him. She walked up to Izabelle, took the book back and held it up out of reach, "If you want it, you gotta trade for it."

"What?" Izabelle snapped and Bonzo placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her from potentially attacking Paizley, "We're not gonna keep it! We just need to borrow it, you'll get it back."

But Paizley just held the book higher and shook her head, "Still gonna need some collateral for borrowing."

" _Collateral_? What exactly do you think we've got to give you? What are you even gonna _want_ for just a day or two?"

"I dunno, but you better come up with something."

Bonzo was already digging through his art case, though, and quickly pulled out a small box of sculpting tools.

"Grodge?" _Good enough?_

"That should do it."

She took the box from him and handed over the book, still making sure it was out of reach of Izabelle. Bonzo placed it carefully in the case and smiled at her while Izabelle stood off to one side, grumbling bitterly to herself. The two of them couldn't hide their giggles.

"Geh, Izaka, zo." _Come on, Iza, let's go._ "Gazar, Paizka!" _Thanks, Paiz!_

"No problem!"


	28. Roz: Language

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Limelight #2 for today~ The next installment of the Rozeira storyline!

* * *

Roz

Language

The members of BFZ met up at the end of the day and were busy discussing the plans for that afternoon's band practice when they were interrupted.

"Hey, Roz...?" a familiar voice came from behind them and they all fell silent and slowly turned around.

Keira was standing there with a hopeful expression and her eyes on Roz like the boys weren't even there. The three of them exchanged knowing looks and Zephyr nudged Roz's shoulder before motioning to the others to follow him.

"C'mon, guys," he started to walk away, discreetly winking at Roz when Keira couldn't see it, "See ya around, Roz."

Al frowned, "Wait, I thought we had band pra- _Ow!_ " his hand flew to the back of his head where Zach had just smacked him and he scowled, "There's better ways to tell me to shut up, you know," he whined as he trailed along after them, until Zephyr took his hand and he instantly cheered up.

Keira chuckled lightly as she watched them go then turned her attention back to Roz, who was once again trying to hide her nervousness.

"So, I guess that means you're free now?"

"I..." Roz shrugged, "... Guess it does, yeah." She smiled, feeling awkward, but Keira didn't seem to notice. In fact, she looked a little shy herself, bouncing on her heels.

"Great, 'cause I kinda have a favour to ask?"

Now they were curious, "Yeah, anything! What do you need?"

"So, you know how they've just introduced the Zombie-tongue class for all the humans students?" she asked and Roz nodded, "Well, I was thinking maybe you could help me out a little?" she bit her lip, swaying ever so slightly.

Somehow, it felt like she was just making an excuse, but Roz didn't care. She would take any excuse to spend some time alone with Keira.

And that's how they ended up in the school library not too long after. They had started off actually going over some basic Zombie-tongue but that quickly gave way to more interesting things.

"So... how would you say 'I like you'?"

Roz saw the slight smirk on her face and returned it, "Gar-ziga."

"Gar-ziga."

OK, that sounded real. That _definitely_ sounded real. Was that real...? Roz felt herself blush and looked down for a minute to try and calm her raging 3-beats-per-minute heartrate. When she lifted her head back up, she was met with Keira's eyes staring straight into hers, her chin in her hand and a soft smile on her lips.

"How about..." she quickly glanced around, making sure nobody was watching, then pretended, very obviously, to think, "How d'you say 'kiss me'?"

Roz couldn't help the grin spreading across her face. She licked her lips and took a breath, never breaking eye contact, "Ag kiss-ga."

Keira leaned in a little closer, "Ag kiss-ga, Rozka?"

Before she obliged, Roz narrowed her eyes, acting suspicious, but still smiling, "Was this your plan all along?"

Keira just shrugged, feigning innocence, "Maybe?"

With a short laugh, Roz finally kissed her. It was just a small peck but she still _kissed her_ , and it left the human girl giggling happily. For a little while after that, neither of them could find their voice, instead they could only make brief eye contact and dissolve into giggles again. Eventually, they were both (mostly) calm and composed enough to speak.

"Um..." Keira started, "I honestly do need help with this class, though. Not just for school, I'd... really like to know your language. And I think I need to work on it..."

"You're already doing pretty good, actually."

"Am I?"

"Yeah! Seriously, you are, so maybe," Roz paused, getting nervous again, "next time, instead of the tutoring, we could, like, go on a real date...? There's a Christmas party in Zombie Town coming up."

"Sounds like fun!"


	29. Zeke and Izabelle: Meltdown

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Zephzo and Chanzie are ready for the Christmas fics, and after tomorrow, so will Zebelle and Rozeira be! Here's the second-to-last pre-Christmas Zebelle Limelight~

* * *

Zeke and Izabelle

Meltdown

Since the _incident_ a few days ago, Izabelle had been acting especially irritable around Zeke. No matter what he said, no matter what he did, she was glaring at him but if he ever dared try to make eye contact, she'd turn away. If he said her name, she ignored him. And yet, she wasn't avoiding him. Not completely. She, along with Riza and Zadie, still stopped to talk before class started, although Izabelle was directing her words more at Hazen lately. If the trio caught sight of Zeke, Diaz and Fritz out freerunning, Riza and Zadie would be calling out their usual playful taunts and jokes but Izabelle didn't join them. Zeke did spot her watching him once, when she thought he wasn't looking, with a blank expression. He was getting such mixed signals from her.

 _You blew it. You kissed her and now she hates you. It could have worked out if you just took it slow but you had to kiss her, didn't you?_ the voice in his head kept saying, only for a second voice to counter it.

 _This isn't your fault, she's just working things out. Remember, she_ did _kiss you first. That's a good sign! If you can talk to her about it alone-_

 _When could you possibly talk to her alone?_

Apparently, now that he didn't have Izabelle to argue with, he was resorting to arguing with himself.

He hadn't breathed a word about it to Hazen, either, and that just made it worse – he told Hazen pretty much everything. He could have, but he held back.

"Seriously, what is going on with you and Iza? You were finally friends with her, and that takes a lot, and you even admitted you had a crush on her. But it's like you _hate_ each other again!"

"I don't hate her," he assured him, keeping his eyes down and shaking his head. He dug the heels of his palms into his eyes then ran his hands through his hair and tipped his head back, "Z, I _definitely_ do not hate her. I just have to hope she doesn't hate me."

"Why _would_ she? What happened?"

Zeke sighed, "If she doesn't want me to talk about it, I'm not gonna talk about it. She'd kill me and I can't risk anything else going wrong."

All he needed was a chance to talk to her.

– LIMELIGHT –

He was walking down the hallway alone when he heard people whispering Izabelle's name in scared and worried tones. They were all looking further down the hall in the direction he was heading in and he kept going until he saw her. She was pacing back and forth, her breathing heavy and her eyes burning. She was saying something under her breath and as he got closer, he could just make out what it was.

"Rizaka... Gozrea Rizaka...? Zadika, zet..." _Where's Riza...? Or Zadie..._

He recognised her signs of a meltdown immediately. One brave human girl approached her to ask if she needed help but Izabelle growled lowly and slammed a fist against a locker beside her, making the girl yelp and run off.

Anyone else who passed by avoided getting too close and scurried away. They knew her for being violent and unpredictable, they weren't her friends. They didn't know her like her friends did. But Riza and Zadie were nowhere to be seen. Hazen, he suspected, was with Suzanne or Azure or someone. Bonzo was in music class. Zeke was standing in front of her within seconds, his hands resting on her arms with a comforting touch.

"Izabelle?" he kept his voice low, not wanting to overwhelm her anymore than she already was. Her breathing quickened and she wrenched herself out of his grasp to go back to pacing. Zeke patiently pulled her back to him, muttering soothingly to her, "Hey, hey, look at me. Look at me," his hands went to her shoulders and she slowly started to lift her head as he spoke, "Izabelle. Listen. You're OK. Let's get you somewhere quiet."

She blinked in confusion, "Z-Ze'ka...?"

"Yeah, I've got you."

"Ze'ka..."

To Zeke's surprised, she clung onto him, burying her face in his chest, and he prayed she wouldn't feel his heart thud. Forgetting for a second that there were people around, he brought a hand up to stroke her hair and rested his chin on her head, "I've got you," he softly repeated. He then led her outside, where she wasn't in such a confined space and could get some fresh air, to sit down on a bench.

"Stay here, alright? I'll be back."

Izabelle gave the smallest nod and he went to turn away but then she raised her Z-band to her mouth and bit down on it. Zeke lowered her hand; she might like chewing things to stim, but her band was _not_ a good choice.

"Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself. I'll get you something. Just wait."

What had Riza asked for last time...?

He was gone for only a minute or two. Luckily, there had been a small selection of zombie snacks added to a vending machine around the corner and _thank Z_ , it had taffy tongues. When he returned, Izabelle was biting her Z-band again and he quickly stopped her, opening the bag of candy.

"Izabelle...?" he offered one to her, "Here. These are way better than chewing your band."

She snatched it from him, opened the bag and mumbled what might have been a "gazar". Then, a little clearer:

"Zrit." _Sit._

Zeke hesitantly obeyed and felt himself tense up and then relax when Izabelle leaned on his shoulder. She grabbed his arm and forced it around her, all the while staring blankly ahead, still not quite back to reality yet.

"Zrayn," _Stay_ , she said and she closed her eyes, taking deep breaths, with Zeke watching her closely.

This was normal. This was what Riza or Zadie or Bonzo would do for her. Just a grounding technique. She needed to be held, she needed pressure. That's it.

But that voice popped into his head again; _Is that really all it is?_

"... Izabelle...?" Zeke pretty much whispered but she didn't respond other than shuffling closer to him, even curling into him more, her head in the crook of his neck. He sighed, defeated, and began to stroke her hair, neither of them saying a word.

After some time, Izabelle was breathing steadily again and she sat up slightly, but she didn't move away. She stayed pressed against his side, making no attempt to remove his arm from around her.

"Um, Izabelle?"

"Mn?" she hummed but didn't look at him. She was halfway through the bag of taffy tongues.

"I..." was he really going to bring this up? Yes. He was. He couldn't keep quiet any longer, "I don't want to be, you know, taking advantage of the situation or anything but... c-can we talk about that... kiss?"

For a few seconds, there was silence and Zeke wondered if she even heard him until she said in an oddly small voice, "... Zon."

He nodded and bit his lip, "Alright..."

He turned his head away but kept his hand in her hair, then he felt Izabelle tugging on his coveralls and he looked down to see her staring back up at him. Their eyes locked and he gulped.

"What...?"

Her eyes flickered to his lips and back up, silently asking permission, and he ducked his head to kiss her. The bag had dropped into Izabelle's lap and she gripped his shirt with both hands while Zeke brought his free hand to her knee. He could taste the candy on her lips and smiled into the kiss. All too soon, though, she pulled away and looked down. She casually picked up the bag and went back to eating while Zeke tried to wrap his head around what had just happened. He moved his hand away and opened his mouth but she spoke first.

"... How'd you know?"

"What?" he frowned.

She rolled her eyes, obviously back to her usual self, "How'd you know I needed to chew something?"

He shrugged, "I've seen how Riza and Zadie take care of you."

Her face softened, both surprised and touched, "You remembered?"

"Well, we're..." Zeke wasn't sure what exactly they were at this point, but it would probably be best to stick to what was familiar, sounding a little awkward as he gestured between them, "W-we're friends, aren't we? If you ever need someone, I want to be able to help. So I need to know how to."

She didn't argue when he said they were friends, and he wasn't sure how to take that. Maybe, for once, he wanted her to argue.

"Hm..." Izabelle looked down at her lap in thought, "OK..."

... That was it? She still wasn't going to talk about it? Zeke stared at her. He couldn't help feeling a little annoyed.

" _OK?_ "

Her head jerked up and she glared at him threateningly, "Did I stutter?"

"... OK..."

 _Give her time._

Zeke let it go and decided it was enough for now to just have a moment with her like this. Hopefully, there'd be more of these moments in the future. He smiled as he watched her, not even realising when he brushed a lock of hair from her eyes and she let him.

The words left his mouth before he could stop them, "You know I want to kiss you again..."

She turned her head away sharply so that he couldn't, but still didn't make the slightest move to get away from him. She heard him chuckle and felt his fingers running through her hair once more. He was pleasantly surprised when she closed her eyes and leaned back against his shoulder.

She still wasn't going to talk about it, but what harm would it do to just enjoy this?


	30. Zeke and Izabelle: Nickname

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

I know I promised another Rozeira Limelight as well today but I was very busy and ended up deciding the other Rozeira wasn't 100% necessary to get out before the Christmas fics so :/ But here's some more Zebelle! Now they're ready for Christmas too~

The next chapter of Tattooed Mistakes is also coming tonight!

* * *

Zeke and Izabelle

Nickname

"Why do you only ever call me Izabelle?"

Zeke's head jerked up in surprise at the sound of her voice. He hadn't even heard her footsteps coming. He was sitting on the ground against a fence near the power plant, taking a break from stunts while Fritz and Diaz went on without him.

"Because that's your name?" he answered, confused.

Izabelle rolled her eyes and sat down beside him, "I _mean_ , you're the only person I'm, like... _close_ to," she kept her eyes down but she just knew he was smirking, "Who has never called me Iza. It's always Izabelle."

Looking her up and down, Zeke decided to test just how far he could push her, seeing as his pass clearly went beyond what she allowed from any of the others. He shrugged, resting one arm casually on his knee. He looked straight ahead, like he was thinking, "I like your name. And I like the 'belle' part," he knew he had her attention when he glanced down briefly and saw that she was looking at him out of the corner of her eye. He gently nudged her leg with his foot and leaned closer, smiling teasingly, which earned him a scowl, "It means 'beautiful', you know. 'Beauty'." her eyes widened, almost afraid, "'Izabelle' suits you. _Izabelle_..." now he nudged her side with his elbow and she gave up, turning to look up at him with a blank stare. He held up his hands like the words were in the air in front of them, "... Is-a-belle."

As soon as he said it, Izabelle gasped and laughed, immediately trying to hide it by covering her mouth. She clamped her other hand down firmly on his face and shoved him away, "That is _so_ cheesy...! I'm gonna be sick."

Zeke saw right through her, though, and grabbed her wrist to move her hand off him, laughing too when he saw her face, "Wait, are you blushing?" he sat up straight to get a better look, grinning now, and she turned this way and that to keep him from seeing but he still had a hold on her wrist, "Oh, my good Z, did I just make _the_ Izabelle Graves, scourge of all Zombie Town, _blush_?"

He had to admit, that was satisfying.

"No, get off!" she couldn't even _sound_ mad at him.

He grabbed her other wrist and made her look at him, still with that smug smirk on his face, "What if I just called you Belle?" he suggested, quirking an eyebrow.

Her face fell for a moment, then Izabelle had to bite her lip hard to keep the smile from spreading across her face.

"OK, you're definitely blushing now."

She dropped her eyes, her voice hushed as if there could be someone listening, "Zombies can't blush, Zeke..."

He just smiled even wider when she said his name, "Then why are your cheeks darker?"

"I'm-"

"Blushing?"

He could tell she was internally screaming and he laughed again, then he softened, his voice more reassuring, "Just let it happen, Izabelle. You like me, and I-"

"I don't _like_ people, Zeke!"

He stopped, lowering his hands and loosening his grip on her, just a little. He was quiet as he scanned her face. She looked... scared. Genuinely scared.

"... You're allowed to have feelings, Izabelle."

"Yeah, well, I don't _want_ them."

"Why not?" he let go completely, turning to face her properly while she folded her arms and refused to look at him, "Why can't you let yourself feel anything besides anger?"

"I have a reputation!"

"And I don't? Come _on_ , everybody knows we're the two toughest kids in Zombie Town. No-one is gonna try to say we're not. That doesn't mean I have to hide how I feel, and you don't have to, either," she still wouldn't turn around and Zeke sighed, shaking his head, "You've gotta know how I feel by now."

"... I can't show that kind of weakness..."

Zeke frowned, "You think that's weakness? Do you think _I'm_ weak?"

"No!" Izabelle growled in frustration and sprung to her feet. She paced back and forth, holding her head. Zeke slowly stood up, watching her.

"So what's the real reason?"

"I..." she came to stop in front of him, gesturing wildly, "I don't get it! I don't _get_ all these feelings, I don't get how I'm supposed to know what they are or what to do about them... You know what?" she finally met his eyes, "Every time I _do_ feel something besides anger, it just _makes_ me angry. 'Cause I don't understand it."

"Isn't that just because you're autistic?" he asked and she glared at him. It didn't faze him, though, "I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. I'm saying it's normal for you to not know what's going on with your own feelings. You don't have to understand all of it. Look..." he took a step closer to her and reached out, lacing their fingers together, "Plain and simple, how'd it feel to kiss me?"

She turned shy, her eyes fixed on their joined hands. She wasn't resisting. She bounced on her heels a little, chewing her lip nervously before she looked back at him, "... Good...?"

That one word almost made him lose his composure. A goofy smile was trying to force its way onto his face and this time it was him biting his lip to stop it from showing, "So, that's a start," he turned serious again, "We don't have to put a label on this if you don't want to. Let's just see how it goes."

"... OK."

For a few seconds, they just stood there in comfortable silence, then Zeke couldn't hold back his laughter, "I am seriously gonna start calling you Belle, by the way."

Izabelle snatched her hand away and stormed off. Zeke threw his arms open.

"What, no kiss after all of that?"

She pointed back at him, not facing him in case he saw how she was grinning, "You blew it, Blakeley!"


	31. Zeke and Izabelle: Maybe

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

I didn't want my last fic before Christmas to be angst, plus this one is set before Christmas so I wanted it to be done before then~ Merry Christmas, here's some Zebelle! This leads on from the Under The Mistletoe prompt I did for the Screw Sleep Circle's Christmas week, in my Zombie Town Christmas fic collection, so give that a read if you haven't already~

* * *

Zeke and Izabelle

Maybe

The trio were gathered round a table near the lockers on the Monday morning following the Christmas zombie mash. It was the last week of school and they were ready for it to be over. Izabelle was in the middle of copying some homework from Zadie, who had really bribed Jazz into doing it for her, and wasn't paying attention when Zeke appeared.

"Izabelle?"

She kept herself from jumping at the sound of his voice, "Yeah, what?"

"Did..." he looked uncertainly at Riza and Zadie before sitting down beside her and leaning closer. He kept his voice low, "Did I do something wrong?"

She glanced up at him, then at her friends, who were obviously more than a little suspicious. She focused back on her writing, "No."

"So, why haven't I seen you since the zombie mash? I called you-"

"I answered."

He scoffed, "Yeah, just to tell me you were busy then you hung up. Seriously, what's going on?"

Once again, her eyes flickered up to Riza and Zadie and back down. Zeke seemed to catch on, "... Still?"

Izabelle didn't say a word.

"Can we talk about it?"

"Not now."

She locked eyes with him, silently pleading with him, and Zeke shot her a subtle smile of understanding. Her eyes fell back to the paper. He nodded and straightened up.

She didn't mean to keep avoiding him like this. She really didn't. She wanted to hang out with him more. But she was... _scared_...

"See ya, Belle."

He turned away and heard a pencil snap. Feeling satisfied, he walked off with a spring in his step. Behind him, Riza and Zadie were staring in shock at Izabelle.

On second thought, maybe she _did_ mean to avoid him.

"... That's _it_?" Zadie asked.

"What's it?" Izabelle said, trying to be casual as she brushed the splintered wood off the desk and stole another pencil from Riza, who was watching her, just as confused.

"Breaking a pencil? That's all you're gonna do? Zeke just called you 'Belle'."

Iza didn't even look up, "Yeah, so?"

"And you didn't punch him," Riza started and Zadie continued, back and forth.

"Or kick him."

"Or yell at him."

"Or even glare at him."

"I thought you hated people calling you 'Belle'?"

Still not looking at them, Izabelle shrugged it off, "It's just a nickname."

Zadie folded her arms and leaned back, "You said it was too cutesy," while Riza leaned forwards.

"And makes you sound like a Disney princess."

"Which it does."

"And you hate."

"I... _do_ , but..." Izabelle trailed off, searching for a way to explain without telling them everything, "Zeke and I... have a truce."

"A _truce_?" Riza frowned.

Zadie shook her head, "I'm not buying it."

"Why is Zeke of all people the exception?" Riza muttered but Izabelle said nothing. There was a pause then her mouth slowly dropped open, "You like Zeke!"

"I...!"

Zadie grabbed Riza's arm and looked from her to Izabelle, "Oh, my Z, you do, don't you?"

"I'm not..."

But they weren't listening. Zadie slammed her hands down on the table, "It was that fight! You've been crushing on him since that fight!"

"Wait, no, Zeke's got his own nickname for her," Riza pointed out, "You're dating him, aren't you?"

"All it took was for him to deck some guy and you're all over him."

Izabelle had had enough and pointed the pencil at them in a mostly-empty threat, "I am _not_ dating Zeke. And I am _definitely_ not 'all over him'!"

"But you _do_ like him."

"I..." she cringed slightly and let the pencil fall from her hand, "Maybe? Kind of? I don't really know..." she looked down, one hand raking through her hair while the other tapped on the table, "He said I don't _need_ to know right now..." she went quiet, then her voice came out in just a whisper, "I just know I like when he kisses me..."

Her friends heard her loud and clear and were understandably shocked.

"He's kissed you?!" Riza gasped before Zadie smacked her arm with the back of her hand.

"' _When_ ' he kisses her, so he's kissed her more than once!"

"He's kissed you _more than once_?!"

Izabelle groaned inwardly and tried to calm them down, "Is it really such a big deal?"

"You never even told us you liked him!" Riza said, just barely hiding her hurt and Iza gave her the most apologetic look she could muster.

"I was hoping there wouldn't _be_ anything to tell you."

Zadie gestured towards her, "Then he kissed you."

"... I kissed him."

Zadie blinked.

"... Yeah, we're gonna need an explanation here."

"We were arguing..."

"Believable," Riza commented.

"And... he called me 'cute'. And I took it as, like, little-kid 'cute' so I started yelling at him for _that_ but then he said he didn't mean it that way. I was still mad but I just... couldn't think straight with him _right there_ and I-I kissed him without even thinking. Then I ran off and refused to talk about it."

Zadie leaned towards her, "Wait, so the 'nothing' that _totally didn't happen_ was you kissing Zeke? And it totally _did_ happen?"

"Yup," Izabelle said, popping the 'P', "Sure did."

"And the second time?"

"... I had a meltdown. And you guys weren't there but Zeke found me and... he remembered exactly what to do. He got me taffy tongues and stroked my hair and everything," she didn't even realise she had started to play with her hair, "And that made me want to kiss him. But I couldn't talk, I just looked at him and he knew."

Riza and Zadie were both in awe, "Wow..."

"Was there a third yet?" Zadie asked.

"The Christmas party, in the light garden. He almost got me with the mistletoe but you know I'm not here for that vak. But then we were hanging out in there alone and he was just being really sweet," _good Z, what is this boy doing to me...?_ "I only kissed him on the cheek that time, I don't think that counts."

"It counts." Perfectly in sync. Izabelle rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, whatever... Yes, we've kissed and we've talked, but we're not... calling it anything. For now. OK? We are not _dating_."

There was a brief moment when she almost believed they would accept it, but then Riza tipped her head back.

"Five bucks says you'll be official by the end of the week."

Zadie shrugged, "I'd give 'em till the end of the month. New Year and all. Or at least Christmas."

Izabelle's head hit the table, "I hate you both so much."

– LIMELIGHT –

It was the last day of school, and she had somehow managed to avoid him since that one encounter. Even when they had class together, she didn't say a word to him, and he was clearly concerned about it. But now Izabelle was actually starting to feel guilty. She didn't _like_ not having him around. She walked to school alone that morning, having told Riza and Zadie to go on without her, then she saw him near the gate into Seabrook. Diaz and Fritz were ahead of him, but her attention was all on Zeke.

 _Come on, Iza, just accept it. You can barely even go a week without talking to him._

She sighed. This was so frustrating. Her shoulders sagged as she watched him.

 _Admit it. Admit it to yourself. And admit it to him. Right now._

She tried to shake the thoughts from her head but it was no use. She wasn't supposed to be the romantic type, yet here she was, wanting to run straight to him.

 _... Would that be so bad?_ she asked herself, then stopped in her tracks, _Would it? Because Izabelle Graves isn't supposed to care what anyone thinks of her... And if I want Zeke Blakeley..._ she narrowed her eyes, determined, _I'm gonna take what I damn well want!_

A smile broke out on her face and she took off running.

"Zeke!"

He turned around just in time for her to barrel into him, burying her face in his chest. His arms instinctively wrapped around her.

"Whoa, Belle? What's wrong?"

Izabelle pulled back enough for him to see how she was beaming, "Absolutely nothing. I just..." she bit her lip, uncharacteristically shy, "... I missed you. And..." she looked away, a little embarrassed by the fact she was about to say this, "I'm sorry I've been avoiding you. Again."

When she looked back at him, he was smirking, "Izabelle Graves is apologising? To me?" he pulled her closer and she rolled her eyes but then he turned serious, "Why _were_ you avoiding me?"

"Well, maybe I was a little... scared... and maybe I didn't know what else to do about it."

"You could always talk to me."

"That's what I'm doing right now, isn't it? It's just, I know how to talk to you like a friend, I know how you help friends, and maybe..." she shook her head, "I don't wanna _be_ your friend... And I didn't know what that meant."

"And now?"

She shrugged, "Now I'm sure of it. I really don't wanna be your friend."

"What about your ' _reputation'_?"

She shot him a glare, "Shut up and kiss me before I change my mind."

"You're not gonna change your mind," Zeke chuckled lightly.

"I could! You're wasting time here."

He laughed and leaned down to kiss her, and her arms came to wrap around his neck. When they separated, Zeke pressed his forehead against hers.

"So is this it? If we're not _friends_ , do I get to call you my girl now?"

"... I'll allow it."


	32. Zeke and Izabelle: Hypocrite

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Ah, finally! Back to Limelight~ Happy Bonzo Day, everyone, today the boy is gonna have a little talk with his cousin ;p

Btw, don't think that Tattooed Mistakes is the end of my angsty multichap BGZ fics, I have an idea in mind for another one~ Not nearly as dark as TM, though, don't worry. But sad. It's sad

* * *

Zeke and Izabelle

Hypocrite

On that last day of school before Christmas, Zeke and Izabelle walked inside hand-in-hand with Fritz and Diaz close behind them having seen the whole thing go down. They had easily guessed Zeke had a crush some time ago, he never had to tell them, but they were shocked to find out the two had been quietly making progress without their knowledge. Then again, his friends knew better than anyone that if you asked Zeke Blakeley to keep a secret, he would take that secret to the grave (pun not intended).

The four of them entered the school and immediately drew everyone's attention. They all knew far too well what kind of person Izabelle was and seeing her holding hands with the (usually) kind-hearted Zeke was… well, let's just say they weren't the standard Seabrook couple. But Zeke's smug smile seemed to be enough to keep them quiet. Either that, or it was the understanding that Iza would rip anyone who dared question it apart in a matter of seconds.

When Riza and Zadie saw their interlocked hands, they froze. Izabelle avoided making eye contact, looking down and biting her lip instead, but then Zeke nudged her gently and smiled teasingly at her.

"C'mon, no need to be embarrassed."

She just hummed in response. For a split second, Zeke glanced past her, back towards the door, "There's Hazen," he noted and sure enough, when she followed his gaze, she saw him walking through the door with Suzanne. Zeke looked back at her, then briefly over to her friends, before lifting their joined hands up to his lips, "Better go tell him the good news," he kissed her knuckles and dropped her hand, "And you might wanna get those two to quit staring." With a nod towards Riza and Zadie, Zeke was gone, Fritz and Diaz trailing after him. Izabelle sighed and rolled her eyes at the sight of the girls and made her way over. She came to Zadie first and swiftly smacked her upside the head.

"Snap out of it, it's not that a big a deal!" she hissed.

"You're _official_?" were the first words out of Riza's mouth and Izabelle frowned, "You're _officially_ dating Zeke?"

"… Yes?"

"Ya hear that Zadie?" Riza grinned and lightly smacked Zadie's arm, "I win."

"What?"

"I said they'd be official before the end of the week. Five bucks. Fork it over."

"Can't I just owe you?" Zadie whined.

"Now!"

Grumbling, Zadie began digging through her pockets and glared at Izabelle, "You couldn't have given it a couple more days?"

Izabelle shook her head, "No way."

"So, spill," Riza demanded, "What happened?"

"I saw him at the gate and I've been avoiding him all week. I just…" she shrugged, "Couldn't do it anymore, I guess. I was getting sick of all the drama. If I want something, I'm gonna damn well take it!"

"You know what this means, right?" Riza asked with a smirk, almost making Izabelle take a step back. It was always wise to remain cautious when Riza made that face but it turned out she was safe this time. Riza placed her hands on Izabelle's shoulders, looking her in the eyes, "You have a boyfriend."

"… I have a boyfriend…!" How hadn't she thought about that yet?

Riza let go of her, "Zeke is your _boyfriend_."

" _Zeke Blakeley_ is _my_ boyfriend…!" she breathed.

And then, speak of the devil, Izabelle felt a pair of arms snake around her waist and a chin on her shoulder. Riza and Zadie both turned away, trying to force themselves not to laugh at her expression; a mix of joy, surprise and pure fear. Zeke's voice was right by her ear.

"Yeah, I think I like the sound of that."

Izabelle refused to look at him, but she didn't make any effort to move. In fact, she placed her arms over his and leaned back a little, which just made Zeke chuckle and quickly peck her cheek. Meanwhile, Hazen, standing next to them along with Fritz and Diaz, rolled his eyes, not even trying to hide his smile.

"Please don't tell me you're gonna upgrade to treating me like I'm your kid now or something."

Zeke laughed and pointed a finger at him, "That's not a bad idea, actually."

Fritz ruffled Hazen's hair while Diaz patted his shoulder and nudged him, both of them laughing as well.

"I should just stop talking…" he muttered.

At that moment, Zed, Addison and their friends happened to walk past. Zeke was now standing with his arm laying casually across Iza's shoulders, easily passable as just being friendly, but Bonzo stopped still when he overheard what Diaz was saying.

"… But Zeke and Izabelle make one hell of a power couple…!"

"Zrayn…" _Wait_ , Bonzo said, reaching out to grab Zed's arm and pull him back, alerting the others to stop, too. Izabelle's face dropped at the sound of his voice and she jerked Zeke's arm off of her. As Zed and Addison exchanged an uneasy look, Bonzo gaped at Iza, "Ag driza zazig?"

Her eyes shifted, "Hear what right?"

"Ru, Ze'ka, zet," _You and Zeke_ , Bonzo pointed at Izabelle, then Zeke, then gave her a surprised, and slightly confused, look, "... _Zegrere_?" _... Are_ together _?_

She tried hard to look nonchalant as she folded her arms and shrugged, but she was shaking just thinking about it. Zegrere. Together. They were _together_. _Oh, Z..._

She shook it off in less than a second and cocked her head, "So what if we are?"

Bonzo didn't have an answer. He folded his own arms, copying her stance, and raised his eyebrows. It took him a moment or two to say anything, "Ru nadge, zet." _You're too young._

Izabelle burst out laughing and clapped a hand over her mouth.

" _Ag_ nadge?" she gasped once she could speak again and Bonzo pouted, "Uh, I'm four months older than you, gralzig."

She reached up and could just barely pat his shoulder. The irony of calling him 'gralzig' was certainly not lost on her, but in terms of age, he was _definitely_ the gralzig. Nonetheless, Bonzo narrowed his eyes.

"Ru garzabe." _You're a baby._

" _Ru_ deh garzabe!" You're _the baby!_ "Ru gezer nadge, bak ru zu greeska garzi'ska!" _You're even younger, but you're dating that cheerleader!_ Izabelle leaned forward and whispered, "Hypocrite."

"Zon garzi'ska!" _We're not dating!_

"I was right beside you at the block party, Bonz. I saw everything. _And_ I saw you sneak off to the light garden with her at that zombie mash! _Hypocrite!_ "

Bonzo huffed, "Zonzig briz," _Nothing happened_ , he insisted.

"Oh, I bet ' _nothing'_ happened."

"Agz garzen." _We're friends._

Izabelle smiled slyly, which only made Bonzo more nervous, " _Grodge_ garzen, za?" Good _friends, right?_ she teased and he huffed, "Ru kiss-ga'gru greh?" _Have you kissed her yet?_

He looked away, blushing, "Gry." _Shut up._

She was starting to feel a little more confident now. She shrugged, "Ag kiss-ga Ze'ka." _I've kissed Zeke._

Bonzo instantly covered his ears and glared at her, "Zon zrag garzedd-zig!" _I don't need to know about that!_

As they continued arguing, their friends watched a short distance away.

"Should we stop them?" Bree asked Zeke. She couldn't quite follow the conversation and she was starting to get concerned, but he shook his head and waved a hand.

"Nah. They're always like this," he said and Riza, Zadie, Hazen, Fritz and Diaz all nodded. They let the arguing go on a few more seconds then Zeke turned to Bree, quirking an eyebrow, "Wait a minute, you're on the cheer squad."

Bree was caught off guard by that, "Uh... Yeah, I am. Bucky kicked me and Addy off but he let us back in after the competition. Why...?"

"Has Bucky said anything about the whole zombies-trying-out-for-cheer thing?"

Eliza suddenly butted into the conversation out of nowhere, "Whoa, hold on, _you_ wanna try out for cheer? You hate cheerleaders! Almost as much I do!" she paused, "Did..."

"Yeah," Zeke said, " _Until_ I tried cheerleading."

"You got into a fight with a cheerleader a few weeks ago."

"Because he said I shouldn't be allowed on the squad."

"What is happening?" Eliza dropped her arms to her side, shaking her head, " _I'm_ friends with cheerleaders, Zed's _girlfriend_ is a cheerleader, you want to _be_ a cheerleader, what's next? Is Suzanne gonna say something nice to somebody? _Is Zach gonna get a date?_ "

Zeke held up a hand, "You need to chill."

Eliza folded her arms and nodded towards the bickering cousins behind him, "And you need to control your girlfriend."


	33. Zach and Roz: Venting

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

God, it feels like it's been forever since I updated...! I'm also almost done with another Zephzo Limelight, and I've been thinking of turning the Zombie History Lesson fic into a one-shot collection with my headcanons about the zombie community in general so maybe expect something new there soon...? And I've made a start on another angsty multichap fic, this time involving one canon zombie and one BG zombie~

And I hope you guys are also reading fist-it-out's stories A Cheerleader And A Zombie and Always Had A Feeling, not just because they're great anyway, but also because she's using my BG zoms~! Particularly the guys of Bowling For Zoup and she's doing a great job with them!

Speaking of BFZ, tonight's one-shot is about Zach and Roz, and I've been meaning to write this one for so long. It's finally here~

(Also, there's been a lot of updates to the BGZ masterpost on my Tumblr, there's full names for a lot of zoms now and more to come, and most of them have voice headcanons so you can hear what I imagine them sounding like~ And of course, there's various reference pics, bios, theme songs and other random posts about them! Since I can't post a link on here, find my Tumblr, unusual-ly, and just add 'tagged/bgz-masterpost' to the end of the URL)

* * *

Zach and Roz

Venting

" _Roz!_ "

She barely reacted. It didn't matter that it was a Saturday morning and she was comfortably bundled up under the covers with her face buried in her (maybe just slightly drool-soaked) pillow, Roz was used to Zach bursting into her room unannounced like this by now. Just business as usual.

"Mornin'..." came her muffled reply. She heard the familiar sound of him flopping oh-so-dramatically onto the beanbag chair on the floor by the foot of the bed. She didn't have to look up – she had seen him like this plenty of times and knew exactly how he was positioned. He was sprawled out on his back, eyes closed, one arm held above his head like some Hollywood starlet in an old silent movie. Right on cue, he let out a long sigh.

That was his 'I need to vent' sigh.

"I need to vent."

"Uh-huh..." She was listening. Roz could still listen while she was half-asleep.

"OK, so..." Zach paused to think, "I was walking past the barrier this morning and there was this human girl on the other side and she looked kinda familiar, y'know? Then when I got closer I realised she was the girl I was dancing with at the block party."

"Promising."

"Yeah, that's what _I_ thought! So I went to talk to her and-"

"Lemme guess, she had no idea who you were?"

" _She had no idea who I was!_ "

"Gaz," Roz turned onto her back, opening her eyes for just a moment, "You sure know how to leave an impression on people." She rolled back onto her side.

"What am I doing wrong?"

"Everything..." she was about to drift off again but then she jerked awake with a snort, "Wait a minute, you were hitting on somebody?"

"This shouldn't be news to you," Zach said flatly.

"No, I mean... Already?" she propped herself up on one arm, frowning, "Like, this early in the morning and you've already been rejected?"

"Roz, it's, like, 10 o'clock."

10 o'clock. On a Saturday. There was silence for a moment, then Roz nodded and lay back down, "Ah. Yeah, alright, you've had plenty of time."

She groaned at the sound of Zach's pitiful whining.

"C'mon, help me out here! How'd _you_ get a girlfriend?"

"I dunno, man, I just kinda stood and looked at her a lot, she did all the work..." she was almost falling back asleep while Zach thought.

"You told her you were in a band, right?"

"Right," Roz mumbled, "Tell 'em you're in a band."

Zach bolted upright, "I do! But it never seems to work for me! _Why doesn't it work for me?!_ " he turned to face Roz, though he couldn't actually see her from there, and his shoulders slumped, "That girl this morning didn't even recognise me from the band, either."

"What do you want from me, Zach? Maybe it doesn't work because most of the humans don't care about a Bowling For Soup cover band, and every zombie our age already knows you're a clingy, desperate mess."

"Hurtful...!" Zach gasped and brought a hand to his chest, even though she'd pulled the covers over her head and couldn't see.

"The truth hurts, dude," Roz smirked from inside her cocoon of warmth, "Now, if you're planning on sticking around, could ya keep it down and let me sleep?"

Zach dropped back down on the beanbag, "I'm too depressed to even stand...! I don't have the willpower to do anything but wallow in my own self-pity."

"Yeah, OK, cool, just keep the wallowing silent, thanks."


	34. Zephyr and Alonzo: Song

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't. The songs Catalyst, Sometimes and Ridiculous are all by Bowling For Soup.

Finally, _finally_ , getting back to My Boys! This was inspired by a prompt found on Tumblr, Zeph and Al can't agree on which BFS song is their song~

I have so many Limelight story ideas to write... And other stuff too~

* * *

Zephyr and Alonzo

Song

Alonzo may have spent a lot of his time over at the Styx family's house, but it wasn't often that he and Zephyr would get to be _completely_ alone when they were there, at least not for long. Either one or both of Zephyr's parents would be home, or his sister. And if they weren't, they would be soon. So if they wanted guaranteed privacy then they went to Al's, since the only other person who lived there was his mom.

Zephyr knew Zane would be over to hang out with Rizzo after school that day. And he knew Alonzo's mom would be at work until later that evening. And he also knew they didn't have band practice. There was no question. As soon as they got home, the boys headed into the living room and Al quickly put on some music before he flopped onto the couch, pulling Zephyr down with him so they were cuddling close together. Which turned into kissing. Which turned into making out. To Bowling For Soup. Because... _obviously_.

Until the song changed and Zephyr suddenly noticed a distinct lack of lips against his...

"Oh, hey!" Al nudged Zeph, grinning, "This is our song, turn it up!"

Zephyr didn't, though. He just sat and listened to the intro of _Catalyst_ for a couple of seconds then turned back to Alonzo with a slightly confused frown, "Uh... No, it's not." He shook his head and Al returned the look.

"Excuse me? How is this _not_ our song? Seriously," he started singing along, " _I know it's more like me to wanna make out..._ " he leaned closer as he sang only for Zephyr to laugh and push him away.

"I am not denying that is you to a _T_ , garzi'ka," he said, then shook his head, "But this is _not_ our song. I mean, come _on_. _Sometimes_?"

Al pulled a face, " _Sometimes_?"

"What? It's the first song we learned to play together!"

" _Catalyst_ was the last song we _performed_ together before we started dating!" Alonzo folded his arms and leaned back, "Besides, what exactly are you trying to say telling me _Sometimes_ reminds you of me?" Zephyr knew he was kidding and smiled.

"Don't think about those parts!" he shuffled closer, wrapped an arm around Alonzo's shoulders and took his chin in his other hand, leaning in close to sing " _Sometimes I just wanna kiss you, and tell you I lo-_ "

"Zeph, don't start singing a different song over the one that's already playing! That just gets confusing."

Zephyr stared at him blankly for a moment, then got up and turned off the CD player behind the couch.

"Hey, that's not what I meant!"

Ignoring Al, Zeph stood behind him, bringing his arms around him and essentially trapping him there. He smiled and rested his chin on Al's shoulder, " _Sometimes I just wanna kiss you, and tell you I love you, sometimes...!_ "

Zephyr pressed his nose to Alonzo's cheek but before he could kiss him, Al had pulled away, a teasing smile on his face.

"Cute. But it's still not our song. So put _Catalyst_ back on!"

"Or I could just keep singing to you instead..."

"Then how are you supposed to kiss me?"

Zephyr sighed and rolled his eyes, "You're ridiculous, Al."

" _Ridiculous_ isn't our song, either," he was clearly having fun winding Zephyr up. And Zephyr couldn't even be mad about it. He stepped back, holding up his hands, and turned away but that just made Alonzo giggle.

"Admit it, you love this."

Zephyr was finding it so hard to pretend to be annoyed as he scrubbed his hands down his face, "Oh, my Z, I am gonna-"

"Kiss me?" Alonzo tipped his head back against the couch to look at him, one eyebrow quirked and a playful smirk tugging on the corner of his mouth.

Forcing back a smile, Zephyr pointed at him and tried to glare but the way Al was pouting now was just too damn _cute_ and he couldn't hold it.

"You need to stop," he meant for it to sound threatening but it came out as a laugh. Al propped his elbow up on the cushion.

" _You_ need to kiss me," he cocked his head to one side, but pulled away when Zephyr sat back down and leaned in, " _After_ you put _Catalyst_ back on."


	35. Izabelle, Zeke and Hazen: Child

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

HEY GUYS DID YA HEAR THE NEWS?! ZOMBIES 2! WEREWOLVES! I have mixed feelings about the werewolves idea but, hey, it's only just been announced. We'll have to see what's coming...

I'm working on multiple Limelights atm, and there's a new ship coming in soon, but for tonight, here is a very short little drabble. Hopefully I'll get a few more one-shots up over the next few days, all shippy for Valentine's Day~

* * *

Izabelle, Zeke and Hazen

Child

"I was kidding when I asked if you were gonna treat me like your child."

Looking worn and tired, Hazen walked along the street followed closely by Zeke and Izabelle, hand-in-hand.

"That was your first mistake," Iza smiled, patting his head, "Never make suggestions. You know by now if we don't ruin it, the others will."

Hazen groaned, "I already have parents!"

Zeke didn't even look at him, his expression staying blank.

"Yeah, but they can't follow you to school," his eyes shifted to the side to catch sight of Hazen's pleading look and he cracked a smile, "What? They can't!"

"But they would if they could," he dropped his eyes to the ground in fear, "Then I'd have two sets of parents embarrassing me..."

"And you admit we're your parents!" Izabelle cheered.


	36. Zephyr and Alonzo: Dating

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Another short one, but still longer than yesterday's~ And this story will continue in the next Zephzo Limelight

The next one coming... I was so ready to write Zacky (Zach/Bucky) into Limelight after fist-it-out's been writing them but then I got an idea... for another Zach ship... Get all your Zacky goodness from Fizz (she's got a new chapter tomorrow, don't forget!) then come here to see who he's gonna be with on my timeline ;p

* * *

Zephyr and Alonzo

Dating

Alonzo had been thinking (which didn't happen all that often) about his relationship with Zephyr.

Something felt somehow... wrong. Not in the relationship itself. That was fine. It was great. It was _perfect_. Al had never realised just how much he'd wanted this. To be dating Zeph-

 _Wait._

 _That's it...!_

Band practice was starting soon but Zeph had already been at Al's for the past hour or so just to spend some time together. Right now, Zephyr was sitting on the couch in the living room, picking at random strings on his guitar when Al had his epiphany. He came to sit on the arm of the chair next to Zephyr.

"Hey, Zeph?"

He didn't look up as he fixed the tuning, "Mm-hmm?"

"I just realised. We're not _actually dating_."

Zephyr froze for a second then his head snapped up, "What?" he frowned.

Al folded his arms and shrugged, "We can't really say we're dating if we've never been on a date. I mean, we've been _together_ almost two months, but no _dates_!"

Zephyr put the guitar aside and leaned back, looking up at him.

"We've been on dates! What about those zombie mashes?"

"We were _playing_ at the mashes," Al reminded him, "We'd be there anyway. Plus, there was never any asking or anything."

There was a pause.

"You don't think the Christmas party was a date?" Zephyr asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That was just another gig that ended in us making out," Al smiled and slid down to sit beside him, "Not the same thing."

"We danced together, too. That seemed pretty date-like to me."

"It doesn't count!"

Zephyr blanked. He knew exactly where this was going.

"Just say it, Al," he said but Alonzo just looked away.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Zeph rolled his eyes and moved closer along the couch towards him then threw an arm over the back, giving him a teasing smile, "Do you want to go out on a _real_ date with me?"

Al's face finally broke into a grin and he leaned back into Zeph's arm, "Well, if you're _asking_..."


	37. Zeke, Diaz and Fritz: The Flirt

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Yup. This is happening. I should be posting another one for Zach (and Zeph and Al) in just a bit~

* * *

Zeke, Diaz and Fritz

The Flirt

"... Zach?"

Diaz cringed, "Yeah...?"

"Zach Fairmourn?" Zeke said incredulously, "You like _Zach freaking Fairmourn_?"

"What's wrong with that?" he couldn't help being defensive.

"He's a total flirt! Dee, c'mon, the guy's a mess."

"Maybe you're just feeling left out 'cause he's never tried to flirt with you," Fritz chipped in and Zeke gestured towards him with a nod.

"Yes! Thank you!" he turned back to Diaz, "Listen, Zach's no good. I'm sorry I've gotta be the one to break it to you but it's true. He's a great guy and all but not for a boyfriend. He's clingy but he's fickle. He could be all over you one day then drop you like _that_. And I don't wanna see you get hurt."

Completely unfazed, Diaz shrugged, "Look, I appreciate that but it doesn't change the fact that I like him."

Zeke rolled his eyes, "Fine. But don't come crying to me when he leaves you hanging," he paused, "Actually, do. 'Cause I'll be ready for him if he thinks he can screw with my friends."

"You're getting ahead of yourself, Zeke. He barely even talks to me, remember? I doubt anything is going to happen."

Zeke and Fritz exchanged a look of confusion.

"If he barely talks to you, then why do you like him?"

"Because!" Diaz looked away, "... He's cute..."

Zeke pulled a face, "That's debatable."

" _And_ ," Diaz continued, "'Cause it's just... _amazing_ seeing him dancing or onstage with his band. And have you heard him sing? I know he's mostly just backup but _Z_...! He's so insanely talented, I don't understand why people keep turning him down!"

"Because he's clingy, desperate, and is bound to move on the second another pretty face comes along."

Diaz shot him a sarcastic smile, "And here I was thinking maybe getting a girlfriend would give you a taste for romance."

Zeke laughed, "You think Izabelle's got a taste for romance?"

"Hey, I dunno, I never took the time to find out," Diaz smirked and cocked his head, "Give him a break, Zeke. He just wants someone to love. I think that's sweet."

"OK, fair enough that you have good reasons to like him but still. It's _Zach_."

"I get it! I'm cool with just... admiring him from a distance."

"Just don't fall for it if he does try to pull something on you."

Diaz didn't answer and Zeke could only hope he wasn't ignoring him.


	38. Zach, Alonzo and Zephyr: The Exception

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Second one-shot of the night, the other side of the new ship~ I'm calling them Zaz ^^

* * *

Zach, Alonzo and Zephyr

The Exception

"Well," Zach sighed and sat down on the sidewalk outside the plaza next to Alonzo and Zephyr, not caring if he was disturbing them, "Zeke's officially off the market. Yet another potential true love is lost. Seems it was never meant to be..." He lay down on the ground, like he was giving up completely, and Zephyr slowly blinked at him.

Alonzo, on the other hand, didn't even look at him, mumbling "Chill" around a mouthful of potato fingers.

Zach briefly lifted his head, "Never," then he immediately dropped to the floor again, "And for Izabelle Graves, of all people! _Izabelle_!"

"I always thought she was aro," Al mused and Zeph nodded in agreement.

"I know, right? Riz thought she was, too. And she'd know. But all that aside, Zach, since when were you into Zeke?"

"When was I _not_ into Zeke?"

Al snorted, "When was he _not_ into every zombie he came into contact with? And a few humans," he turned to Zach, "I don't blame you, though, man, Zeke's hot."

Zephyr sat up, staring at him, "I'm right here! You calling other guys hot now?"

Laughing, Al reached over to brush a hand down his face, "Aw, c'mon, garzi'ka, you know you're my number one! I'm just saying, he _is_ hot. Doesn't mean I like him."

"Uh-huh..." Zeph shot him a (jokingly) accusing look and Al laughed again. He leaned over to kiss Zephyr while Zach rolled his eyes and picked up the football lying by Zephyr's bag. Zeph hummed as he pulled away, "Alright, I trust you."

By the time he finished speaking, Zach had chucked the ball at him, shouting "Quit showing off!"

Zeph easily caught it without so much as flinching and smirked back at him, "You better not still try to hit on him, I know you want to. Izabelle would straight up _murder_ you."

"Relax, I know when to stop."

"No, you don't."

"I know when to avoid a beating. I've lost my chance with Zeke but there's plenty of fish in the sea!" he shot the two of them finger guns, "Sea _brook_."

Zephyr groaned and Al waved a hand, "Leave the puns to Roz, man."

Zach brushed them off, "Hey, you know who I wish I had a chance with, though?"

Al furrowed his brow and leaned forward, curious, "Who?"

" _Fritz_."

Zephyr just shook his head, "Dude, don't go for the straight guy."

"I'm not! I just mean if he _wasn't_ straight." he stole the potato finger from Alonzo's hand and popped it in his mouth, leaving Al gaping at him.

"What about Diaz?" Zephyr suggested as Al briefly mourned the loss of the finger but Zach didn't respond at first, "... Zach...?"

"It's funny," Zach started, oddly thoughtful, and sat up, "I've... never really talked to Diaz. Not like that."

Now Al was just staring at him, "... What?"

"Hold up," Zeph straightened up, "You're telling me there's a cute guy in Zombie To-"

"Wait a minute, I can't call Zeke hot but you can call Diaz cute?" Al suddenly sounded upset.

"It's not the same thing, Al."

"It's close enough! Now I'm kinda sorry I said that, it doesn't feel good..."

"Hey, c'mon," Zeph reached over to comb his fingers through Alonzo's hair, making him pout but shut up, "You know what I mean," he kept his hand in his hair as he turned back to Zach, who was watching them with a bored expression. Did they always have to be... _like that_? "So as I was saying, there's a cute guy in town who is gay, single and about your age," he counted each point off on his fingers, "and you haven't so much as _tried_ to flirt with him? Ever?"

"No!" Zach said, just as surprised, "I haven't!"

Al narrowed his eyes, "Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?"

"Y-" Zephyr went to say something then looked at Al, slightly hurt, "I thought _I_ was your best friend...?"

Al shrugged somewhat guiltily, "Then you became my boyfriend and Zach moved up the ranks."

"I can still be your best friend!"

"I can have more than one best friend," Al pointed out, "Roz is your best friend, too, aren't they?"

"OK, yeah, but...!"

Zach waved a hand in front of their faces, "Hey, uh, can we put the little lovers' tiff on hold and get back to me, please?"

"... What were we talking about again?" Al asked after a few seconds.

"The fact he's never made a move on Diaz."

Al snapped his fingers and pointed at Zach, "Why haven't you made a move on Diaz?!"

"I don't know!" he genuinely didn't, "I mean, he's a sweet guy but I just kinda... avoid him? For some reason."

" _For some reason_?" Al echoed in disbelief.

"Look, I already said I don't know why! What else do you want from me?"

"There's gotta be more to it than that!"

Zephyr, who had been sitting in quiet contemplation for a moment, leaned forward, "Maybe you like him."

"... Except I'm _avoiding_ him. Besides, it wouldn't be such a surprise if I _did_ like him, I like a lot of people. I'm not gonna deny it, you're right, he _is_ cute," they both ignored Al's scowl, "But whenever I see him I specifically think; I am _not_ gonna hit on him."

"I mean, maybe it's a subconscious thing. Like, you do the same thing over and over again, and you always get the same result. So part of you is scared if you _did_ try flirt with him, he'd turn you down like everybody else. Or you don't want him to think he's just another notch in your belt."

"... You been hanging out with Zane...?"

Zeph held up his hands in defence, "Hey, it's just something to think about, I could be wrong. But do you have any reason to _not_ flirt with him?"

Zach thought for a moment, but nothing seemed to stand out. Al watched him closely.

"This... could be interesting..." he said and shoved another handful of potato fingers in his mouth.

\- LIMELIGHT –

"... So you think Diaz is cute, huh?"

"So _you_ think Zeke is hot?"

"If you can call Diaz cute why can't I call Zeke hot?"

"Those two words mean something very different, Al!"

"How?"

"'Cute' is like you look at them and you smile and think 'hey, they're cute!' but 'hot' makes it sound like... like you _want_ something from them."

"I don't want _anything_ from Zeke, Zeph, I've got you. I just know a hot guy when I see one! It doesn't mean anything," Zephyr just pouted and a smirk stretched across Alonzo's face. He took Zephyr's chin in his hand, "You're hotter, anyway."

"... Yeah?"

"Yeah..."


	39. Zeke: Siblings

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

And now we're introducing more of the BGZ's younger siblings! I already mentioned Al's sister Lindzey in a Limelight, and in Tattooed Mistakes, and now here's Zeke's brother and sister~ And this one briefly mentions Zion, the next sibling I'm working on. I haven't fleshed out his BGZ brother enough yet though, so he won't be showing up for a while still. But I've had the idea for the talk between Zeke and Blaze here for a while now. Bios for the siblings are linked on the BGZ masterpost on my Tumblr~

* * *

Zeke

Siblings

Zeke had only just gotten home from school and his brother was already getting in his way, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. Blaze was always hanging off of Zeke's arm, or tugging on his sleeve, or punching his shoulder or _something_ to try and get his attention. And now he was bragging about beating some kid in a race at school that day, which he was obviously embellishing a little. He was still stuck in a school in Zombie Town, and there was no way a race the size he was suggesting could take place in what cramped space they had. It didn't look like he was going to stop anytime soon, though, but Zeke knew how to handle that.

The second Blaze heard Zeke speak, he shut up and froze.

"Hey, you know what 'blaze' means, right?" he stared blankly at his brother, who stared back, trying to mirror his expression but unable to keep that little hint of nervousness from showing. The younger zombie knew exactly what that tone in his voice meant. Zeke leaned in closer and Blaze faltered, "It means fire."

"... So?"

"So. Zombies hate fire," he started, then furrowed his brow and smiled slyly, "Now, why would Mom and Dad name you after fire if we all hate it?"

"... 'Cause-"

"No," Zeke shut him down before he could go any further, shaking his head. He crouched down, gave Blaze a fake sympathetic smile and waited a few seconds. Just to draw it out a little bit longer, "It's because they hate you."

"It is not!" Blaze scowled.

"It is. I'm sorry."

" _Zeke!_ " he hit him but it didn't do anything.

"And they were running out of Z names," Zeke hardly reacted to Blaze's punches, "I mean, there's only so many you can use."

" _Mooommm...!_ "

They both heard the usual groan of frustration coming from down the hall, followed by the usual slow, tired footsteps, before their mom appeared in the doorway.

"Could you two _not_ fight for just five minutes? _Please_?"

Blaze pointed accusingly at his big brother, "He said you hated me!"

" _Zeke..._ "

Now Zeke couldn't help wavering slightly under her fierce glare. He definitely got his intimidating nature from his mother. But he wasn't about to let Blaze get the upper hand, "What? You're the one who named him after fire, what was I _supposed_ to tell him?"

"Of all the..." she muttered under her breath and cast her eyes skyward then turned her attention back to her two sons, addressing Blaze first, "Do not listen to your brother. We called you that because we liked the name, that's all there is to it. And you," she turned to Zeke and folded her arms, "Stop telling him things like that! He looks up to you, you know," she paused, "And you're not going to that block party tomorrow. I need you to babysit."

Zeke's face fell, " _What?_ " he followed her out the door and down the stairs while Blaze went back to his own room, "That's so not fair! Why can't I just take them with me? Zoey and Zion will both be there for them to hang out with!"

"There is absolutely no way Jozlyn will even leave the house without me or you father with her knowing that many humans will be around, you know what she's like. Maybe if Hazen was going, I'd have let you take her. At least you'd be a little more on guard with him around. But he's not. So, you are staying here with your brother and sister. And speaking of your sister, she has been begging you to try cheering with her ever since the competition. Could you just humour her for half an hour?"

 _Cheering?_ Zeke pulled a face. He'd given in and helped them when they needed it at the championship but he certainly wasn't planning on doing it again anytime soon. His little sister, on the other hand, best friend of Zoey Necrodopolous, loved it. She was insanely jealous of both Zoey and Zeke (and probably the rest of the zombies who temporarily joined the team) for being part of it. He loved Jozlyn, and Z knows he'd bend over backwards for her, but _cheerleading_?

All of this was expressed in a long moan of annoyance until his mom snapped.

" _Half an hour, Zeke!_ That is all I'm asking. Just half an hour."

He didn't seem to have much choice.

Soon after, Zeke was outside with Jozlyn, watching her stagger through a rough version of the routine from the competition that Zoey had been teaching her. She was so enthusiastic about it that he found it hard not to smile in spite of himself. She was having fun. Then she demanded he join her.

"No way, Joey. That was a one-time thing," he said, shaking his head.

"Come on, _please_?" she clasped her hands together and stuck out her lower lip as far as she could, "I can't do all the cool tricks and stuff, and I wanna see it up close!"

"You see me do those tricks all the time."

"It's not the same thing, though...!"

It only took a few more seconds of whining and pleading to convince him.

The stunting wasn't all that different to parkour, if he was honest. It was just more of a performance, and all synchronised with other people. That might be a challenge, but Zeke did like a challenge. As he went through what he remembered of the routine, he couldn't help thinking back to it.

Cheerleading itself didn't seem so bad. It was more the cheerleaders at Seabrook High School themselves that Zeke had a problem with, when he thought about it. If they were just less of a pain to be around, maybe he wouldn't have such a problem with them. If they could treat other people – especially the zombies – a little better, maybe he could even consider...

 _What am I thinking?_

He stopped himself and focused on the last stunt. He stuck the landing and looked up at the sound of Jozlyn applauding. She was beaming from ear to ear and Zeke huffed and rolled his eyes but he couldn't stop himself from grinning as he walked over to her.

"Alright, that's enough," he told her, "It's getting dark and the patrol will be coming soon."

She started to protest but then Zeke scooped her up and draped her upside down over his shoulder to carry her inside as she giggled.

He'd probably have to put up with this again tomorrow.


	40. Zephyr, Alonzo, Zach and Roz: Video

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

This is longer than my usual Limelights *^* I had the idea of Al and Zach making YouTube videos for the band for a while then one day while I was thinking about that, I came up with this idea to bring in another of my headcanons about zombism - I finally came up with an explanation of how the zombies can remove and reattach their limbs! Except idk if any of the science here really does work out and I'm not gonna research it because phobias o.o So if anything doesn't make sense, just... go with it...

The next few Limelights are all gonna be ship-related~

* * *

Zephyr, Alonzo, Zach and Roz

Video

Alonzo's mom was too busy at home to be putting up with their noise and someone else had taken over the power plant for the day so band practice was taking place at Zephyr's. Who cared if they disturbed Rizzo? Al being the one in charge of BFZ, for the most part, had gone over the songs to rehearse, and a couple new ones he wanted to learn, but then they were starting to set up when he remembered something.

"Hold on a second," Alonzo stopped them and they all looked at him questioningly, "I almost forgot, I had this idea, 'cause we actually have real wi-fi and everything now so I thought why not do something for the band? Like, to get us out there."

Zephyr could tell where this was going; he knew Al better than anyone. He sighed and gave him a tired look, "What did you do?"

"I made a YouTube channel! And I brought this camera I got off Paizley a couple days ago. We could do vlogs or whatever, we could even try making music videos!"

"... You already made the channel?"

"Yeah! Come on, guys, what have we got to lose? Even if nobody watches it, we'll have a record of everything we do. And if people _do_ watch it, maybe we'll get popular!"

"I dunno about you guys," Zach started, already sounding eager, "But I'm up for it. It sounds cool!"

Zephyr glanced at Roz and raised an eyebrow. _You in?_ She shrugged back and they both turned to Al.

"Alright. Let's give it a shot."

"Awesome!" they could all tell Al was excited now, "Right now?"

"Now? We don't exactly have anything prepared."

"We can just do an introduction, you know? Tell people who we are."

And that's how they ended up in the living room, the camera in Zach's hand, Al and Zeph sitting together on the couch and Roz standing behind them, leaning against the back. Alonzo had already launched into a basic intro, ever the expert frontman. Zephyr could tell he had been watching a lot of vlogs and the corner of his mouth quirked up a little at the thought.

"... My name's Alonzo and I'm the lead singer and backup guitarist in Bowling For Zoup. Behind the camera is my best friend, Zach," Zach briefly turned the camera on himself, neither of them paying any attention to Zeph's eye roll when Al said 'best friend', "On bass guitar. And this," the camera back on him now, Al nestled closer into Zeph's side, "Is our lead guitarist, and my boyfriend, Zephyr," grinning, he took Zeph's chin in one hand and forced him to face the camera. Zeph glanced at him, pretending to be annoyed, and pursed his lips but didn't try to move away, "Who is perfect."

He couldn't resist.

"Perfectly capable of kicking you out of my house to get out of this video, which I'm already regretting agreeing to do."

Al looked at him for a second or two then pushed him out of frame as he turned back to the camera, "Did I say perfect? I meant trash. Surprise, this is actually a breakup video."

Zephyr pouted and leaned into him, "Don't even joke about that, Al!" he whined.

Alonzo returned the look, "Are you sorry?"

"I'm sorry."

Alonzo chuckled and pecked his cheek, making Zephyr smile, though he tried to play it off. Al saw right through him and grinned, "You love me."

"Mm-hmm..."

He turned to look at the camera again and winked, "He loves me."

"Moving on!" Roz, standing behind them, shoved them apart so she could actually be seen, "When are you gonna talk about me?"

"Right," Al laughed and threw an arm around Roz's neck, pulling her into a side-hug and pressing his face against hers, "This is our baby, Roz, they play drums." She pulled a face but he ignored it.

"Wait," Zephyr nudged Al's leg with one foot, "That makes it sound like you're calling them _our kid_."

After a moment's thought, Alonzo nodded but he didn't let go of her, "They're our _and_ Zach's baby."

"That's not really any better."

"I'm the _youngest_."

"You're the _baby_."

"Get off me."

Roz shoved him away and stepped back from the couch so he couldn't pull her back in. Now that there was space for him, Zach weaselled his way in between Alonzo and Zephyr and turned the camera on himself.

"More importantly, although these two are dating," he pointed from Al to Zeph, then up to Roz, "And she's got a girlfriend, I," he focused the camera on himself again and flashed a smile, "Am very much single. And will consider any and all offers."

All three of his friends rolled their eyes and Alonzo took the camera from Zach, holding it up so they were all in the shot together, "We don't have time to humour you, Zach. Anyway, we're an all-zombie cover band for Bowling For Soup, the greatest band to ever exist."

"Do people outside of Seabrook even know there's zombies here?" Zephyr asked suddenly, "I mean, everyone who was at the cheer championship has to know now but that's nothing compared to who could be watching. Besides, Seabrook doesn't exactly flaunt it."

Al nodded, "Good point."

"The short version," Roz began as the boys all looked at her, "Is there was an accident at the Seabrook Energy Plant about fifty years ago. Something involving lime soda, which sort of explains the hair. Sort of. It caused a mutation that basically turned people into zombies. Not, like, horror movie zombies. Mutant zombies. So, still _alive_. In some way. And it's genetic, so we were all born as zombies, too. We have to wear Z-bands," she raised her left wrist to show off her band, "To reanimate our bodies and keep all those cravings for brains in check."

Zephyr cut in, "We used to be segregated from the humans 'cause they were so scared we'd still eat 'em. They just started letting us go to their high school in the fall and now we're trying to get the rest of Seabrook to integrate."

Before he could continue, he was interrupted by Rizzo appearing in the doorway from upstairs.

"What are you doing in here, I thought you guys were rehearsing?" she paused when she saw the camera in Zach's hand and he zoomed in on her, "Are you filming something?"

"We finally got a decent internet connection so we're starting a YouTube channel for the band," Al explained. Rizzo was already making her way over to them.

"Move over, I'm your star now."

Zach laughed and obediently turned the camera onto her, "Mama Bear's here and looking as gorgeous as ever." He tracked her closely as she walked.

"Boy, you know that don't work on me."

"I know. No harm in sayin' it, though."

He pretended not to notice the grossed-out look he got from Zephyr.

Rizzo dropped herself down on the couch on top of the boys, her back against Alonzo and her legs kicking up into Zeph's lap. He looked from her face to her feet and back again in disgust as she spoke to the camera.

"Hey, humans of the world! I'm this little cutie's big sister," she squished Zephyr's cheeks and he jerked away from her.

" _Twin_ sister."

" _Big sister_. My name's Rizzo, an-"

"You are so fake," Zephyr said flatly and shook his head.

"I could so easily kick you in the face right now, you know that?" she prodded his chest with her toe and he laughed back at her almost sinisterly.

"Yeah, you know what else is _so easy_ right now?"

Rizzo's face fell, "Oh-"

" _Hold her!_ "

Now with all four of them laughing and cheering, Alonzo grabbed Rizzo around her shoulders, pinning her arms to her sides, and Zach came in closer while Roz... didn't really do much. She just watched leaning over the back of the couch. Zephyr's hands clamped around Rizzo's left ankle and squeezed, Rizzo straining all the while to hold onto it, until the weakened muscles around the joint gave way and started to tear apart. She screamed, not in pain but in anger – pulling off a zombie's limb felt like little more than a hard pinch – and sat up the second Alonzo loosened his grip. She reached to take back her severed foot but Zeph held it up then threw it over to Zach.

And she couldn't even stand up to get it back.

Rizzo pointed a finger at him, eyes like daggers, "Zach, if you know what's good for you...!"

He threw the foot back over towards them but Zephyr had already jumped up to catch it before it came anywhere near Rizzo. She could vaguely balance on the one foot but she wasn't getting very far on it.

"This is so unfair! I can't even chase you!"

"That's the point!"

The boys were running all over the room, passing the foot back and forth, every now and then throwing it to Roz, who clearly didn't feel like moving too fast and stayed in the same spot. Whenever she got it and Rizzo thought she might have a chance, it was gone again, but it didn't take long for Roz to get bored of the game and she easily handed it back over to Rizzo, who sarcastically thanked her and quickly popped the joint back in. She began pressing the ripped skin back down, slowly joining it back together. Zombie healing would take care of the rest; the flesh moulded together almost like clay. Rizzo kept grumbling as she went.

"This ain't instant, y'know! Z, I won't be surprised if one of these days I can't get the damn thing back on. You're gonna wear the muscle down way too much!"

"What if I start breaking it at the knee instead...?"

" _Zephyr!_ "

"Alright, fine! Sorry!" he rolled his eyes.

"This boy, right here," she jabbed a finger towards her brother and glared into the camera, " _He's_ the evil twin. Don't let the cute face fool you, it's my face, too."

Rizzo placed her reattached foot on the floor, applying pressure for just a couple of seconds at a time, then standing up when it felt firm enough. She nodded, satisfied. Zeph, Al and Zach all sat down again, Zephyr leaning on Al, who had his arm around Zeph's shoulders, and Zach on the arm next to them.

"Like half of the humans watching the video just clicked away..." Roz joked, her head in her hand.

Alonzo looked at her, confused, "What, why?"

Roz shrugged, "They just saw someone get their foot ripped off. Humans don't see that too often. They probably think it's kinda gross."

"They do?"

"Humans kinda have a problem with losing limbs, Al. They can't just put 'em back on, they don't heal fast enough. Plus, they'd bleed out."

He frowned, "We bleed... don't we?"

"Closer to the heart, we bleed. Not in our limbs, 'cause our blood doesn't circulate fully," Rizzo said, to Al at first then she turned her attention to the camera Zach was once again pointing at her, "Humans have full circulation, that's how their bodies _work_. Ours work with some kind of combination of radiation poisoning in the mutated genes and the electromagnetic pulses we get from the Z-bands."

"And," Zephyr continued, "Our muscles are mutated, too, so they're stronger in most of the body but they deteriorate in some parts, like closer to joints. So we can just tear those muscles and the skin around them apart, dislocate the joints and pull off a foot or a hand or whatever, then we can join 'em back together with zombie healing."

"How about another demonstration?" Zach suggested and Zephyr smiled evilly at Rizzo. She immediately turned and headed for the door.

"Nope. I'm out. I don't need to go through this again."

While the others laughed, Zeph called after her, "Coward!" then gestured to Zach, "Guess I'll just do it myself. C'mere."

He talked through the process as he did it, starting with the forefinger of his left hand. He took hold of just the fingertip and pressed down on the joint until his skin did, in fact, tear and the muscle seemed to cave in and he eventually pulled it off, held it up to the camera, then reattached it with ease. He moved down to the next joint and did the same.

"See? Simple," he smirked and went through a quick finger-tutting routine just to prove it. He leaned back again and put his arm around Al, who laughed a bit then furrowed his brow.

"Wait a minute, this was supposed to be a video to introduce the band."

Zephyr shrugged, "And now they're getting educated. One of these days we're gonna get out of Seabrook and they gotta know what to expect."


	41. Zephyr and Alonzo: On Camera

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Time for some more Limelight~ I've also started work on two new multichap fics involving BG zombies, and this time they're both on the canon timeline, unlike Tattooed Mistakes was. They're both kind of sad and angsty. Cuz that's my thing. And btw, keep an eye on krut09's YouTube channel, Kreatable23 ;)

I posted this headcanon on Tumblr a while ago and decided to fic it ^^

* * *

Zephyr and Alonzo

On Camera

Alonzo may have become just the slightest bit obsessed with vlogging about the band. He was even carrying the camera around with him most of the time now. If the group was actually getting together to film something, the camera went to Zach but technically it belonged to Al – he was the one who traded away his tuner to Paizley for it, after all (he was getting good at tuning his guitar by ear, anyway).

The whole ordeal started one afternoon when Al decided to film a little bit on a whim, just to give an update on things, and in the background of the video came the sound of an acoustic guitar, making him smile.

"Zeph's here, too," he turned the camera on him and Zephyr gave a two-fingered salute in acknowledgement before bringing his hand back to the fretboard, "But he's just sitting around instead of showering me in love and attention, like he should be."

"I'm _trying_ to learn a song _you_ wanted me to learn. Is that not enough for you?"

"Hmm... No. You gotta actually say it," Alonzo sat down a few feet away from him, making sure to get the both of them in the shot, "You know what I think?"

"No, what?"

"I think you're trying to act all cool on camera so you're refusing to say 'I love you' to me."

He looked back at him. Zephyr rolled his eyes, failing to hide the smile that was creeping across his lips and dropped his head to focus on what he was doing.

Al thought for a brief moment then slowly started to zoom in on Zephyr and tried to mimic his voice, "Hi, I'm Zephyr and I refuse to admit I love my boyfriend on camera because I have no heart."

Zephyr didn't even look up as he nodded, "Yup."

"C'mon!" Alonzo whined as he zoomed the camera back out again, "Tell 'em what a perfect boyfriend you have."

"Or what a perfect boyfriend _you_ have." He still wasn't looking up.

"Y- _Wait a minute...!_ "

Zeph couldn't help chuckling at him just a little bit.

"You're too cute, Al."

Alonzo let out an indignant huff, "Go back to your song!"

– LIMELIGHT –

He was sure this one would work.

This time, he had already been filming during band practice. When Zach and Roz had left, and Zephyr was taking his time in putting away his guitar and equipment, Al kept rolling.

"Zeph?"

"Hm?"

" _Sometimes, I swear you make me sick, sometimes I just want to kiss you, and tell you..._ " he trailed off and waited. Zephyr ignored him, "... Finish the line, Zeph."

Zephyr slowly looked up at him, then at the camera, then back down, "Nice try."

"Why won't you just say it?"

"Honestly, it'd be pretty easy to get me to, but if you haven't figured out how to do it by now, I don't know what to tell you."

Alonzo frowned, silent for a moment.

"... What does that even mean?"

"It means you gotta _make_ me say it."

"How?" he pressed, "... What if I say that _Sometimes_ really _is_ our song?"

Zephyr shook his head, "That'd just be stating facts. You don't get anything for that."

"Not even a kiss?"

"Maybe a kiss," he stood the guitar case upright and leaned on it, "Are you gonna say it?"

"... No..." Alonzo stared him down cautiously and Zephyr laughed and picked up the case, throwing the strap over his shoulder.

"Then no kiss, and I'm not saying anything either!"

– LIMELIGHT –

One day, Alonzo was lying on Zephyr's bed with Zeph half in his lap, neither of them really doing anything in particular, when he whipped out the camera and turned it on them both. Zephyr cringed when he saw.

"Again with the camera, Al?"

Alonzo wasn't listening. He was giving him puppy-dog eyes.

"Say you love me?" he requested and Zeph just stared blankly back at him. Al pouted, "Please?"

Finally, Zeph sighed and rolled his eyes, "I love you." He was smiling, though. He was definitely smiling. Alonzo grinned and pecked his lips, earning him a slightly bigger smile.

"I love you, too."

"You know, if you'd just _asked_ me to say it from the start, it wouldn't have taken so long."

"... You're evil, you know that?"

Zephyr kicked his feet up onto the bedframe and tipped his head back onto Al's chest, "So I've been told."


	42. Diaz and Zeke: Stalker

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Some more Zaz~ I have some good stuff planned for this ship ^^

* * *

Diaz and Zeke

"Stalker"

"Whatcha watching?"

Diaz, waiting on Zeke's front porch, jumped at the sound of his friend's voice and tried to hide the screen of his Z-band, "Nothing!"

Unfortunately, Zeke had already seen, "Is that Zach?" he asked with a frown, grabbing Diaz's arm and yanking his wrist up to look at the band. Oh, well. No point in hiding now. He snatched his hand away, quickly minimising the video.

"They set up a YouTube channel for the band..." he shrugged.

Zeke quirked an eyebrow, "Now you're just turning into a creepy stalker, Dee."

"I am not!" Diaz snapped, "I'm not stalking him. These videos are public, anyone can watch 'em."

"It still counts."

He shook his head, the slightest hint of a mocking smile on his face, and Diaz followed him towards Fritz's house, "No, it doesn't. They've only made a couple of videos anyway, there's barely anything for me to stalk!"

"You sound disappointed."

" _Shut up!_ "

When Fritz stepped out the door, he took one look at the both of them and sighed, "Zach?"

"Zach," they replied simultaneously, Zeke rolling his eyes and Diaz trying to hide his embarrassment. Fritz, luckily, wasn't going to get involved. He hung back, walking a couple of steps behind them as they bickered back and forth until they came across Hazen and the girls waiting for them on the next street. Zeke broke away for a moment to quickly kiss Izabelle and take her hand, but he and Diaz fell back into their petty arguing again in a matter of seconds.

Izabelle rolled her eyes, already sick of them both, "OK, what's going on?" she raised an eyebrow at Zeke, but he didn't answer. After all, this wasn't about him, he wasn't about to go and expose Diaz's private business, not even to his girlfriend. But he shot his friend a look, hinting to him to explain. Diaz scoffed.

"Zeke's mad because I have a crush on Zach."

Frowning now, Izabelle glanced up at Zeke, "What's wrong with that?" she folded her arms, "I mean, Zach is pretty annoying but he's harmless."

"I just don't think he should waste his time on someone like Zach who isn't gonna take a relationship seriously," he said, "Think about it; if he really wanted a relationship then why's he always bouncing around and playing the field? I'm just looking out for Diaz, as his friend."

Behind him, Diaz groaned dramatically, "You don't need to look out for me, Zeke...!"

Izabelle smirked and reached up to pat Zeke's cheek, "He's a big boy, garzi'ka, I think he can take care of himself."

As the group began to walk down the street, Hazen muttered under his breath, "You never say that about me..."

She instantly whipped round to face him, her face blank, "Give me a reason to."


	43. Zach and Denzel: Advice

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

It's time to introduce another BGZ! Because Zach's other friends aren't always the most helpful... :p

DENZEL: the zombie with Zach who spits out dust at the start of My Year, also seen with Zed, Zach, Zane and Chaz in the first chorus of BAMM

* * *

Zach and Denzel

Advice

He needed to talk to someone about Diaz.

Someone besides Alonzo. Or Roz. Or Zephyr. Because, although he loved them, he couldn't help feeling discouraged by how easy it had been for them to find relationships. Especially when Al and Zeph were always just... _like that_.

Rizzo was usually the one to go to for advice, but it probably didn't make much sense to ask the aromantic how he could be sure if he was seriously romantically attracted to someone. There was a similar reason to not go to Zane – he was asexual – plus he'd most likely go down the psychological route and end up completely losing him. He may act like he understood that stuff but honestly, he didn't have a clue. And Chaz was still too busy trying to grasp the mere concept of being in a relationship now that he had a girlfriend (Chaz! _Chaz Bucket_ had a girlfriend...!) to be of any use.

Luckily, Zach knew where to turn: Denzel.

Denzel would be honest with him. He wouldn't try and steer the conversation in one way or the other or insist he knew better or let any personal opinions get in the way. He'd just give Zach the facts as he saw them, and some unbiased advice, and help him get his thoughts straight. Even if nothing else about the situation was straight.

He ended up talking to him outside the school one morning, a few minutes before the bell. If Diaz had already arrived, they didn't see him. He must have either been inside already, or still walking through Zombie Town.

Denzel sat before him with his hands clasped together. By now, he already had some idea of the situation and was ready to help, "OK. Here's what I want you to do," Zach leaned forward, ready, "Talk about him," then quirked a confused eyebrow at Denzel's words, looking for an explanation, "Sit there, empty your mind of everything but Diaz and just tell me whatever you think of. If this is any different to your usual... infatuations, there'll be something deeper to it."

That made sense. In a way. It could work. Zach sighed and tipped his head back, quiet for a moment, "... He _is_ really cute..."

"Something besides that. You think everyone is cute. Give yourself a minute to think. _Really_ think."

He did, and soon the thoughts for flowing.

"He comes off so confident and cool, like he doesn't care about anything. Like everything just falls into place for him..." Zach sat up, "But I feel like there's gotta be something else going on with him, y'know?"

Now, this sounded interesting. Denzel cocked his head, "No, I don't know. But for one thing, that sounds a lot like you. You act so full of yourself but there's a lot going on under the surface. You feeling some kinda connection with him?"

"Yeah..." Zach nodded, suddenly catching on, "Yeah, I guess I am. Like... like I could understand him."

"And yet you're still not going for it. You're feeling this pull towards him but you don't act on it."

"I'm..." Zach faltered. This was where he was getting stuck. This was where thinking about Diaz started making him feel fuzzy and confused. He shook his head, "I don't..." then he threw up his arms in exasperation, "I don't know how to explain it, man. What if..." This was what he was scared of, "What if he turns me down? Everybody else does and if he's the same, I'll never get to know him like that. I'll never get to know what makes him tick."

Denzel seemed to be considering what Zach was saying. Neither of them spoke straight away.

"When anybody else turns you down, you don't dwell on it. You wallow in self-pity for maybe an hour, tops, cry to Roz about it in that time, then look for your next victim. You saying you don't want to risk moving on from him?"

"I-I guess?"

"There's your answer."


	44. Zeke, Izabelle and Rizzo: Label

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

This is just something to establish a part of Iza's character I talked about on Tumblr a little while ago when I was figuring out some more sexualities/romanticisms for the BGZ. I just really liked the idea of 1. Iza talking to Zeke about it and him being supportive and 2. a conversation between Iza and Rizzo. Also making Izabelle be on the aro spectrum felt right cuz she's sort of a self-insert, to some degree...

* * *

Zeke, Izabelle and Rizzo

Label

Izabelle had been strangely distracted lately and the boys were starting to get concerned. Riza and Zadie seemed to at least have some idea what was happening, but they weren't telling them anything. Although she and Zeke hadn't been together for that long, he could tell when something was getting to her.

"Belle?"

Her head snapped up in surprise, "What?"

"Anything you wanna talk about?"

She shook her head, "Nothing," she said casually. Or it meant to sound casual. It actually came out sounding more defensive.

Zeke sat down beside her, "Right. Remember the last time you said something was ' _nothing'_?"

"Gry...!" she hissed, blushing a little, and nudged him, making him laugh.

"C'mon, Izabelle," he said gently, "Talk to me."

 _Just say it._

"... I thought I was aromantic before," she admitted, unusually shy, and Zeke tilted his head but said nothing, "Like, it's not just the autism and not understanding feelings, I seriously don't think I ever felt that way and I didn't think I ever would. And I still don't feel like I'm... entirely _not_ aromantic... I don't know _what_ to think."

He shrugged, "Do you need to know what to think?"

She was silent, squirming uncomfortably. She really wasn't used to this kind of conversation.

"...You're not... mad or anything?" Izabelle asked in a quiet voice, looking up at him and he pulled her closer.

"What do I have to be mad about?"

"That maybe the way I feel about you isn't the same as how you feel about me."

"You don't know that for sure, Belle. You obviously like me. You obviously like being with me," he pointed out. She avoided his eyes but nestled into the crook of his neck and nodded slightly. Zeke thought for a moment, "Aren't there other labels under 'aro'? There's probably something else that fits you."

"I don't know anything about that either. I only know 'aro' is a thing 'cause of Rizzo."

"You could ask _her_ about it, then," Zeke suggested but Iza just groaned and rolled her eyes. He smirked, "Ok, what's your problem with Rizzo?"

"She's so... _motherly_ ," she grimaced, "It's annoying. And really patronising."

"You know she doesn't mean to be. And you think everyone's annoying."

Izabelle whined and tipped her head back onto his shoulder, "Please don't make me talk to her...!"

He laughed and brought a hand up to stroke her hair, "I'm not gonna _make_ you. I just think it'd be a good idea if you wanna figure this out."

She wouldn't admit it out loud, of course, but he knew her well enough to see that she knew he was right.

– LIMELIGHT –

Rizzo turned away from the cauli-brains stand only to almost bump right into Izabelle.

"Whoa...!" she jumped and stumbled back, Zane's mom Zia giving them both a cautious look from behind the stand. Then Rizzo noticed the uneasy look on Iza's face, "Izabelle? Is something wrong?"

Izabelle glanced at Zia, who had already gone back to work, then turned and started walking away. Rizzo followed.

"... I need some advice," Iza mumbled, avoiding looking at her.

" _You_ want advice? From _me_?"

"Are you gonna help me or not?" Izabelle snapped and Rizzo held up her hands.

"OK, damn, calm down! I'm just surprised is all. You never want help from me. This must be big."

Izabelle took this as an invitation to explain, "You know I'm dating Zeke now?"

"I have heard," Rizzo said, raising an eyebrow.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing! I heard you two are dating. Not everything is an attack, Iza," she said plainly. Izabelle opened her mouth to argue but Rizzo pointed a finger at her, "Ah! Don't even try. I ain't gonna help you if you're gonna act like a little kid."

With a huff, Izabelle rolled her eyes then closed them and took a breath. She opened her eyes again and looked at Rizzo, "Alright. I'm calm," Rizzo gestured for her to continue, "Before that happened..." she trailed off and looked down again, "I thought I was aromantic. And I'm not great at figuring out feelings and whatever anyway but I know Zeke's the only one I've ever actually liked that way. I still don't think I'm _not_ aromantic. But I don't know anything about all that spectrum stuff."

Rizzo nodded slowly, "So, you wanna know if there's a word for you?"

"... Yeah."

"Alright. Uh..." Rizzo thought for a moment as they walked side-by-side, "Were you already close to Zeke before you started to like him?"

"I mean, kind of? We were friends, but that was only because we were both hanging out with Hazen all the time, we didn't really get along at first. I did respect him, though. No-one else is on my level. And he can sure throw a punch..."

"But there wasn't any kind of major _emotional_ connection before you even had a crush on him?"

"I guess not?"

"So, you're not demi, then."

Iza frowned, confused, "What?"

"Demiromantic. When you can't be attracted to someone until you've really bonded with them emotionally first," Rizzo explained, "That's not you. You honest-to-Z like Zeke?"

"What kinda question is that?" Iza scowled, "Of course I do, I wouldn't have a problem if I didn't!"

"There's arospecs who aren't attracted to people but they still like dating. Or who'll like someone until that person returns the feelings, then it fades away. Also not you. So is it just... not normal for you to like someone?"

"It's not normal," Izabelle nodded, "I don't like _anyone_ , but I like Zeke. It's just weird."

"Greyromantic," Rizzo said confidently, "It's rare for you to like someone and you never actively _wanted_ a relationship but it happened anyway. And girl, when a greyro actually likes someone, it's serious. That boy is lucky to be the one person to get your attention."

"So, I'm greyromantic...?"

"Does that sound right to you?"

"I think it does," then she skipped ahead, throwing out a passive "Thanks!" and ran off.

– LIMELIGHT –

"Zeke!"

He didn't even have time to turn around and Izabelle jumped right onto his back, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. He quickly regained his balance and laughed.

"Hey, what's up?"

"I talked to Rizzo."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, "And?"

"And... you're special."

"Wait, what?" he laughed again.

"You might be the only person I ever feel this way about. So, you're special," she kissed the top of his head as he moved his hands to her legs and gave her a piggyback ride down the street, "You better appreciate that."

"I do, Belle."


	45. Zephyr, Alonzo and Zeke: Race

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

It's been a while since I posted a Limelight, hasn't it? But I have a few in the works~ Including some to set up the context of my next multichap fic, currently nicknamed the "future fic"! It's another Zephzo fic and this one is on the canon timeline, unlike Tattooed Mistakes! It's sort of a sequel to Limelight, before Limelight even ends (if Limelight does ever end...) so make sure you get caught up on Zephzo and BFZ because the future fic will be coming by the end of the month...!

I hope you've also been reading Nothing's Gone Forever (Only Out Of Place), the backstory to Paizley and her relationship with Zed and Zoey ^^ The epilogue is coming on Thursday~

* * *

Zephyr, Alonzo and Zeke

Race

The members of BFZ were walking back home from band practice at the plant when something – or _someone_ – caught Zach's eye and he stopped. Roz almost bumped into him and when they asked what he was doing, it alerted Zephyr to stop as well, and he reached out to grab Alonzo's arm and pull him back over. Al looked confused.

"What?"

Zeph just nodded at Zach with a knowing smile and Al turned to look, then followed Zach's gaze to see Fritz, Zeke and Diaz further down the road, near the old parking lot, freerunning.

Ah. Diaz.

Zach hadn't even answered Roz's question and they nudged his arm. He snapped out of it, started to apologise then quickly got distracted again. Diaz had dived off of a crumbling wall into a perfect roll across the concrete and was now balancing on a railing, looking back at his friends as he waited for them to catch up. Zeke hopped onto the railing and that was when Zephyr noticed where Alonzo's attention was. He suddenly felt jealous.

He had tried to let it go, but Zephyr was the worst for dwelling on minor things, not talking about it then allowing it to get out of hand. All Alonzo had done was call Zeke hot. It meant nothing. He knew that. He hadn't ever shown any interest in Zeke, in _any_ way, aside from that. Plus, he had taken it back when Zephyr had said that Diaz was cute. There was absolutely no reason for Zephyr to worry. No reason to be jealous. And he knew it. He watched Zeke for a moment himself. By now, he had overtaken Diaz, who looked like he was taunting Fritz for being so slow, and was running for the next building.

He was fast...

 _It's not_ that _impressive_ , Zephyr couldn't help but think, _Any zombie could pull off those tricks... And I'm just as fast as him. Probably faster_ ,Now he was just being bitter, but he wouldn't ever admit to that, _I could do better_. He turned to Al, who was more interested in teasing Zach at this point.

"Hey, garzi'ka?" Zeph gently patted Al's arm and he instantly forgot about Zach.

"Yeah?"

"Who'd you say is faster, me or Zeke?" he kept his eyes fixated on Al's face as he thought, glancing back at the other boy for a second or two.

"...Honestly, Zeke."

Zephyr leaned back, surprised, and arched an eyebrow, "Oh, really?"

"What's the big deal? Zeke runs around more than y-" he stopped suddenly, frowning at Zeph, "Wait, is this 'cause I said he was hot that one time?"

"What? Pfft, no. Come on, Al, I'm over that."

"You suck at lying," Roz said.

"Go back to sleep," Zephyr snapped and slowly turned to face Al as he started to back up towards Zeke and his friends, "You think he's faster? You ain't seen nothing yet."

With that, Zephyr made his way over to them, already a little overly confident.

Zach leaned towards Alonzo, "You're not gonna stop him...?"

Al shrugged and grinned, "Hey, if he wants to show off for me, I'm not complaining!"

Zach just rolled his eyes.

"Yo, Zeke!" Zeph called out and Zeke came to a halt, watching him stride over.

"What's up?"

"I got a challenge for you," Zephyr started, rubbing his hands together, and Zeke stepped forward with a curious expression as Fritz and Diaz hung back, "A race. From here," he pointed at the broken fence beside them, then down the street, "To the street corner."

Zeke raised an eyebrow, "Any reason you wanna race me...?"

"Why not?"

"Hm," he looked Zeph up and down, "Yeah, alright. You're on."

Zephyr smirked – Zeke Blakeley could never resist a challenge.

The two of them lined up with one heel pressed against the fence and as soon as Alonzo, who was definitely enjoying this, called "Go!", they both took off. And Zephyr was in the lead for a short while until Zeke took the opportunity to hop onto a wall and scale across a few feet before landing back on the ground ahead of him. He made it to the corner in just a few seconds after that and Zephyr gaped at him.

"Hey, no-one said you could go all parkour on this!"

"No-one said I _couldn't_."

"Alright, tough guy, I want a rematch. And no cheating this time."

"What's with the sudden animosity, Zeph?" Zeke asked, "C'mon, what're you trying to prove?"

Zephyr held up his hands in defence, "Nothing! Just a little fun."

"I'm not convinced."

"It doesn't matter! Are we going again or what?"

Zeke just smiled, "Fine. Back to the fence?"

Zephyr nodded. They were off again a moment later. And even without any kind of tricks, Zeke won again. Zephyr dropped to the ground, partially in exhaustion but mostly in disappointment. And shame.

"It's not a big deal, Zephyr," Zeke bent down to pat his shoulder, "It's just a race," then he lowered his voice, "And I don't think you need to impress Al, if that's what this is. He's already your boyfriend."

Zephyr huffed but didn't look up. He heard Zeke walking away and someone else approaching, then the sound of Alonzo's voice.

"Wow," he was obviously smiling, "You sure proved me wrong."

"Don't look at me," Zephyr whined, "I'm a failure."

Zach and Roz stifled their laughter but Alonzo didn't even try to. He crouched down and prodded Zeph's shoulder, "C'mon, get up!"

"Can't."

"Yeah, you can," Al laughed again and grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet, but Zephyr wasn't done being dramatic just yet. He stood with his head tipped back, still panting, and raked his hands through his hair.

"I lost," he groaned, " _Twice_."

Alonzo pulled one of Zeph's hands away from his head and the other fell to his side as Al spoke, "So what? You're still way better than Zeke in my book," Zephyr rolled his eyes as Al cupped his cheek and kissed him, "Would you quit being so jealous all the time?"

Zephyr pouted, looking down to Alonzo's lips and back up, "Maybe if you kissed me again..."

When he did, Zach scoffed, "Can you two stop being so sickeningly in love? I get it, I'm alone!"

Al shot him a teasing smirk and gestured in the direction Zeke and his friends had left in, "Diaz is _right there_."

Zach glanced at the boy in question, then back at Al, "... Carry on," he said lamely and looked away.

Chuckling and shaking his head, Alonzo turned back to Zephyr.


	46. Alonzo: Dog - Part 1

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

There's a little story behind this one~

So my lovely friends fist-it-out and krut09 help me to find the real names of the dancers who play (most of) the BG zombies in the movie and sometimes provide me with posts by those dancers on Instagram and stuff (because I don't have Instagram). And Zach Burke, the dancer who played Alonzo (yes, the guy who played Al is actually called Zach, I know), has very quickly become my fav~ I love seeing his little freestyle dance videos and I... totally don't have a Big Dumb Fangirly Crush on him, I swear o.o ANYWAY one recent video from him showed his dog, Jax! And I love Jax! I happened to have been thinking about which of the BGZ might get pets after the ban is lifted and learning about Jax made me want to give Al a dog, but him actually having a dog might mess up some future ideas, so I came up with an alternative~

This is in 2 parts because I needed to flashback real quick to establish Al's love of dogs, part 2 will be back to the current time

And the future fic is really coming along ;)

* * *

Alonzo

Dog – Part 1

The humans were arriving at the zombie block party and Alonzo and his friends were excited to be performing for a bigger crowd than normal, but then something caught his eye.

"Is that a _dog_?!"

Zephyr, Zach and Roz all spun round to look and sure enough, there was Zed's new girlfriend in all her white-haired glory, carrying a dog through the barrier into Zombie Town.

A dog.

In Zombie Town.

None of them had ever even seen a dog in person. They'd seen dogs on TV and stuff. They'd heard dogs barking on the other side of the barrier. But they had never actually seen a dog right in front of them. That didn't stop Alonzo from loving the whole idea of dogs. They were soft and cuddly, energetic, loyal... pretty much exactly like him. Before his friends could stop him, he was already halfway down the street.

"Al...!" Zephyr was about to go after him but gave up. There was no point in trying to catch him now. Instead, he sighed to himself and watched him for a moment, then turned around to find Zach and Roz both smirking at him.

"Don't you both have humans to stare at?" he snapped and pushed past them.

Meanwhile, Alonzo was only a few feet away when Zed joined his girlfriend and greeted both her and the dog in her arms, then he noticed Al walking over.

"Al, hey!" he smiled and the human girl looked between the two zombies, "Addy, this is Alonzo. His band's gonna be playing later."

"Oh, yeah, you helped us at the championship, right? Thank you so much for that, you guys were amazing."

"Don't mention it, it was a lot of fun! More importantly," he was already ruffling the dog's fur, "Is this your dog?"

They both laughed and the girl – Addy, he guessed – shook her head, "He's not mine. He's actually a gift for Zed's sister."

Al looked at her, confused. As usual.

"Wait, what? But we can't..."

Zed grinned, "They're lifting the pet ban!"

Al's jaw dropped, but his hands were still occupied with petting, "No way. Are you serious?"

"Yup," Addy nodded, "My parents are the mayor and the zombie patrol chief, I get these updates straight from the source."

"Oh, my Z...!" he gasped, then pressed his nose right against the dog's, "You are the very first zombie pet. You're making history," the dog licked him and he laughed.

"Al," Zed nudged him and shot him a teasing smile, "Shouldn't you be helping your band set up?"

"Yeah, yeah, just a sec..."

"We need to take him to Zoey, and you need to go get ready. He'll still be here afterwards."

Al's eyebrows shot up as if he hadn't even thought about that (which he hadn't) and he just whispered, "He'll still be here...! He's staying in Zombie Town...!" he finally let go of the dog and started to back away, "You better warn your sister not to let me near him or I'm just gonna take him," he pointed at Zed then turned and ran back to the others.

He soon got distracted talking to Zach about Zephyr, being interrupted by Lindzey and then dancing to BAMM with some random cheerleader, but once he spotted Zoey and her new dog heading inside just a little while before the party came to a close, Alonzo could only think of one thing.

He found his mom with Zynthia and Zeus, Zephyr's parents, a little further down the street.

"Mom!" he came to a screeching halt in front of the three of them and Hazel blinked in surprise at her son. He didn't give her a chance to speak, "Did you see the dog?"

"The... dog?"

"They lifted the pet ban and Zed's girlfriend gave Zoey a _dog_! An actual dog!"

Even if Hazel wasn't quite as excited as Alonzo, she, along with Zynthia and Zeus, knew what this meant for zombie rights, "That's... Gaz, that's such a huge step forward, I-" then she caught Al's hopeful expression, "Al, don't ask me-"

" _Please_ , Mom? Come on, I always wanted a dog! I know I'd have to take care of it, I could do that, please-"

"Alonzo!" she held up a hand to silence him, looking apologetic, "I'm sorry but I just can't afford to get a dog anytime soon. And you definitely can't, either. You don't make anything off your band and zombies your age can't get jobs."

"What if...?"

Hazel placed a hand on his face, stopping him before he could go any further, "Al, honey, the way things are right now, we just can't. I'm sorry, unless something comes up and I can get a better job, or the council actually does let you work for pay, it just isn't possible. OK?"

Al hung his head, unable to hide how disappointed he was, "OK..."

"But at least now you'll see some animals around Zombie Town! You won't be missing out completely," she rubbed his arm then brushed his hair back and smiled at him, "Where'd all that positive energy go?"

He couldn't help smiling back at her, "I guess you're right."

"I always am."

– LIMELIGHT –

A couple of months later, Alonzo and Zephyr had finally started dating, as had Roz and Keira, the band's YouTube channel had been up for a few weeks and slow progress was being made in the integration every day.

Lindzey had just arrived for her usual weekend visit at her mom and brother's house when she made an announcement.

"Guess what?" she was bouncing on her heels while Alonzo was eating breakfast, not really paying too much attention, "Dad said I could get a dog!"

Al immediately choked.

"He _what_?!"


	47. Alonzo: Dog - Part 2

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Part 2~!

* * *

Alonzo

Dog – Part 2

 _Lindzey had just arrived for her usual weekend visit at her mom and brother's house when she made an announcement._

" _Guess what?" she was bouncing on her heels while Alonzo was eating breakfast, not really paying too much attention, "Dad said I could get a dog!"_

 _Al immediately choked._

" _He_ what _?!"_

Hazel closed her eyes and took a breath, bringing a hand to her temple. She should have expected something like this from her ex-husband. But what could she say in front of Lindzey? And with Alonzo looking at her like that...

Once he'd actually swallowed his food he stared at his little sister in shock for a few seconds, then turned to their mom with his jaw still hanging open. He turned back when Lindzey started talking again. She was too happy to notice anything wrong.

"He got a promotion 'cause they're giving zombies more job opportunities and he said we'll be able afford a pet soon!"

That may well have been the case, but both Alonzo and Hazel had a sneaking suspicion he was also doing this at least partly just to spite the two of them. Al looked at Hazel, gesturing wildly towards Lindzey, who was visibly confused.

"She's getting a dog!" he spluttered, "Dad actually agreed to get a dog! This is _so_ not fair! Mom, can't you get a promotion or something?"

"It's not as easy as that, Al," Hazel sighed, "Most of the higher positions need qualifications that I just don't have, and the pay isn't all that much better for anything I could get," she reached out to stroke his hair when he looked down and pouted, "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but your sister having a dog is the next best thing, right?"

Al glanced at Lindzey, who shrugged, "You can come visit," she suggested. He snorted.

"And willingly go into Dad's house? I don't think so. You're bringing it here."

"Don't exaggerate, Al," Hazel said, "You can put up with being in the same house as him, as long as you're not getting in each other's way, and neither of you _say anything_. And I'm sure you can go over when he's not home. Like if you were babysitting Lin, for example."

"I don't need a babysitter...!"

"I'll babysit the dog, then," Al gave Lindzey a smug smile, "But you're gonna bring it over here, too," he noticed Hazel raise an eyebrow, "... Can she...?" he asked, almost pleading.

"Maybe. We'll see when they actually _get_ the dog."

– LIMELIGHT –

It was about two weeks later when Lindzey's dog came home, who Alonzo was incredibly anxious to meet. Anxious enough that he was actually going to go over to his dad's house. That's how desperate he was to see this dog that he knew pretty much nothing about. He was even hanging around outside before they got home from the animal shelter in Seabrook.

His mom had been right about seeing more animals around town. It had been almost three months since the ban had been lifted and he had spotted a couple of other dogs and cats roaming the streets, including Bonzo's cat who he was keeping hidden from his parents, and he'd heard from some of the others about rodents and birds and fish. But he had his heart set on a _dog_. If he wasn't going to get one himself, he'd happily 'borrow' his little sister's.

He perked up the second he saw them down the street. Lindzey was a fair distance ahead of their dad, being half dragged along by the German shepherd puppy she had on a leash and obviously enjoying herself. Alonzo still might not have known a single thing about the dog yet, but he already loved it. It only took a few more seconds for them to reach him and he crouched down with his arms wide open to welcome the furry ball of energy, Lindzey coming to a stop beside him, a little out of breath but laughing. Once Al was satisfied with the petting and licks and baby-talking, he looked at her.

"Alright, Lin, start talking," he was grinning as he scratched the dog's head, "Give me the details."

She stepped forward to wrap her arms around the dog's neck and press her face into its fur for a second first, "His name's Zipper. His old owners took him to the shelter 'cause he was, like, the runt of the litter and he wasn't 'perfect' enough."

Al pouted and turned Zipper to face him, "You _are_ perfect."

At that moment, their dad finally caught up with Lindzey. He was carrying a few supplies that they evidently hadn't already bought yet and gave Alonzo a look of indifference. Al ignored him.

Instead of greeting his son, he just asked, "Are you coming in?"

Al's smile dropped for a split second as he looked up with a short nod, "Yeah," but his usual happy attitude returned when Zipper licked his face. He stood up and followed Lindzey inside.

The siblings spent roughly an hour talking about, playing with and trying to train Zipper, with minimal input from their dad (while Alonzo was there, at least).

When Al eventually got back home, Hazel was surprised by how long he'd managed to stay there without being nearly as annoyed or drained as he normally would be. When she commented in it, he shrugged.

"Having a dog there actually made it bearable."


	48. Alonzo and Paizley: Jobs

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

I gave a very subtle hint at this in the 'Dog' Limelights~

This was actually inspired by a Phineas and Ferb scene. My voice headcanon for Alonzo is Jaret Reddick, the lead singer of Bowling For Soup and also the voice of Danny (of Love Handel) in P&F. I was rewatching the clip of his first appearance and I couldn't help imagining Al in that scene, in his music shop. So this happened

I have (possibly) one more Limelight to post before the future fic starts sometime in the next couple of days. Make sure you're keeping an eye on krut09's YouTube channel, Kreatable23, as well...!

* * *

Alonzo and Paizley

Jobs

The thought had been sitting in the back of his mind ever since his mom had talked about whether or not they could afford a pet. She had said something about zombies his age not being able to work for pay. That got Alonzo thinking (which Zephyr and the others found slightly concerning).

It had been so disappointing to hear that he couldn't afford to have a dog of his own, and although he appreciated seeing Zipper as often as he did, he was still jealous of Lindzey for having him at all.

And it would be so much better if he didn't have to depend on Paizley or Bonzo for new equipment that wasn't even new – it was all old junk, really, that they'd managed to salvage and fix up. It'd be a dream come true to be able to buy an actual, brand new, professionally-made guitar. And an amp...

Plus, Al was fascinated by hair dye. Dyeing hair hadn't ever been a popular trend in Seabrook before, where unnatural hair colours were seen as too similar to zombies and were therefore 'bad', but lately things were changing and some of the human kids were experimenting with different colours. Zephyr had reminded Alonzo that zombie hair didn't dye, but then Al heard about hair chalk and coloured hairsprays that were meant to wash out straight away, and dammit, he wanted red streaks.

... But he had no money...

– LIMELIGHT –

With some careful encouragement from her parents, as well as from Zed, Zane and Bonzo, Paizley had been gradually working on her coping skills with being around humans.

Since Zed had joined the football team, she had always made the effort to go to his games and support him, as long as her mom and dad, or on occasion, Zane, were there to help her if she got anxious. The homecoming game had been a major bump in the road in more ways than one, but she was trying.

The block party had been a pretty good thing for her. She was in her hometown, where she felt comfortable, but still around humans. Humans who, now that some real progress was being made, were treating the zombies with a lot more respect and consideration. She stuck mostly with Zane and Rizzo, since Zed was practically hosting the whole thing. So maybe Paizley wasn't interacting with any humans herself all that much, she was _there_ , and that was a big deal for her.

Sometimes, she would take a walk around Seabrook with her mom or dad when it was quiet, pulling her wagon behind her just in case she came across anything of interest, which rarely happened; the humans liked to keep their streets perfectly clear.

The next step was being on her own around humans...

– LIMELIGHT –

When they started going to Seabrook High, the zombies learned that some of the teenaged humans had part-time jobs, so they had their own money to spend instead of relying on their families, and to give them a little experience for the future. Zombie teens didn't have that option.

Until about three months after the cheer championship, when an announcement was made: zombies aged from sixteen to twenty-one could now work part-time, too. For a lower minimum wage than the humans could earn, that is. But they _could_ earn their own money. Before that, Zane had been the only one of them who had a job, and that was in his family's business, which he didn't get paid for.

Alonzo's sixteenth birthday was coming up.

For a while now, Al had been walking past one particular music store and just staring through the window at the guitars on display until Zephyr, Zach or Roz had to forcibly remove him before any employees got too suspicious – there was a 'no zombies' sign clearly visible on the door. The day that sign disappeared, Al's interest was piqued. Then it was replaced with a 'zombies welcome' sign and he eagerly pulled Zephyr closer, begging him to come take a look around with him until he agreed. Zach and Roz weren't far behind. Although they couldn't afford much, all four of them could have spent hours in there just browsing.

Three days before his birthday, Al asked if they were hiring. And they were. He applied and just over a week later, he was told he got the job. So Monday to Thursday after school, Alonzo was working at the music store.

He chose to ignore that he probably got it because they could pay him less than a human. It was still something.

– LIMELIGHT –

Paizley was already eighteen by the time they were granted permission to work, and it seemed like a good opportunity to get more accustomed to being around humans, but she was still nervous. But one of her friends now had a job of their own in Seabrook – Alonzo.

She was done with schoolwork for the day and went out for her usual slow walk with her wagon until she decided to brave the humans' side of the barrier for the sake of meeting Al after work. She wanted to ask him about it.

He just happened to be leaving as she approached the music store and he stopped and smiled when he saw her.

"Hey, Paiz!" he greeted once he was closer and he fell into step beside her, "What are you doing here? I didn't think you ever came this far into town on your own."

Paizley shrugged and sighed, "Testing my boundaries a little, I guess?" she replied, "And I wanted to ask you about something."

"About what?"

"Do you think I should get a job?" she always went straight to the point, "You actually know what it's like."

"Why ask me? Why not Zane? He's basically had a job since he was tall enough to see over the stand."

"He works in Zombie Town. You work in Seabrook."

Al stopped in his tracks, " _You_ wanna work in Seabrook?"

Paizley stopped, too, and nodded, "Yeah. Maybe."

"... With _humans_?"

"I need to get used to humans. Seems like a good way to do it," she explained, "D'you think I could handle it?"

"Maybe," he started walking again and she followed, "If you find the right job. Music's my whole thing so that was the obvious choice for me."

Paizley thought for a moment, "My whole thing is... old stuff, I guess. Like, history and technology and that sort of thing. I dunno what I can do with that."

"Hm..." Al cocked his head, also thinking. They were both quiet for a while, in their own heads, then he looked at her, "Do you think Seabrook has, like, thrift shops for something...?"

"... Did you just have an idea?"

"... I think so?"


	49. Zephyr, Alonzo, Zach & Roz: Compilations

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Some more Zephzo cuteness before the future fic starts tomorrow night~

The trailer for the future fic is up! Go to the YouTube channel Kreatable23 (krut09's channel) and it's the latest video!

* * *

Zephyr, Alonzo, Zach and Roz

Compilations

"What are you smiling at?"

Al looked up at Zephyr's question, grinned, then waved his hand as he went back to whatever he was doing on his Z-band, "Nothing." He covered his mouth with his right hand, then bit it to try and stop himself laughing but it didn't work. Zephyr stared at him.

"Seriously, what?"

"Nothing!" Al giggled and Zephyr narrowed his eyes. He watched for a moment or two longer then went back to his homework. For a split second, he almost entertained the thought that it could be Zeke but he quickly shook that idea from his head. He didn't need to be so insecure. Alonzo briefly glanced over at him while he wasn't looking, then dropped his head again when he turned around, but Zephyr caught him. He couldn't take it anymore.

"What are you looking at?" he demanded, "What is on your band?"

Biting his tongue, and still laughing anyway, Al shrugged, "It's just a video, garzi'ka," he told him, "Relax."

"What video?" the volume was turned way down but he could make out a few familiar voices, "One of ours?"

"I mean, kind of?"

"Kind of? 'Kind of' how, exactly?"

Al looked back down at the screen and his face twisted in deliberation then he heaved a dramatic sigh and gestured for Zeph to come over, "Fine! C'mere, I'll show you." As he did, Al rewound the video back to the start.

Zephyr sat down beside him and took his hand, pulling his arm towards him so he could see the screen better. When he caught sight of the title, he slowly turned back to Alonzo with his eyebrows raised.

" _Really?_ "

Al just laughed and nodded.

' _Zephyr of BFZ being in love for 10 minutes'_

Before Zephyr could say anything else, Al hit play and a compilation of clips from BFZ's vlogs started.

" _Surprise, this is actually a breakup video."_

" _Don't even joke about that, Al!"_

" _Are you sorry?"_

" _I'm sorry."_

The peck on the cheek.

" _You love me."_

" _Mm-hmm..."_

The wink to the camera.

" _He loves me."_

The camera kept zooming in on Zephyr and capturing every little subtle smile, every time he looked at Alonzo, every time he touched him for the briefest moment. Zeph groaned, slightly embarrassed and closed his eyes, tipping his head back.

"Oh, my Z..." he opened his eyes again, "Who even made this?"

"I dunno. Someone who watches our videos," Al was clearly having the time of his life, "Keep watching."

" _Tell 'em what a perfect boyfriend you have."_

" _Or what a perfect boyfriend_ you _have."_

" _Y-_ Wait a minute _...!"_

" _You're too cute, Al."_

" _Go back to your song!"_

Zephyr tried not to react when Alonzo nudged him, "You were _so_ checking me out right there!" and he turned away to hide his blush.

"Well, if you weren't so damn cute..." he mumbled, making Al laugh even more and kiss him. Zeph couldn't hide his smile after that, "... It is true, though."

"What's true?"

Zephyr shrugged, trying to sound casual, "I am in love with you."

Al bit his lip and kissed him again, "I'm in love with you, too," then he shifted so he was sitting back with his head resting on top of Zephyr's and he went back to his Z-band, "There's more, you know."

He showed him the channel the video was from and scrolled threw its uploads, the last few all being compilations made from BFZ videos. It looked like the rest of the channel was more compilations from elsewhere, and the occasional video about cheerleading.

"I'm pretty sure it's somebody from Seabrook," Al said, "Look, you can see the Mighty Shrimp logo there."

He pointed at a thumbnail and sure enough, there was their school's mascot visible on a uniform.

"So, who is it?" Zephyr asked but Al just shrugged.

"They're never onscreen. But look at these."

He returned to the BFZ compilations: _Zephyr and Rizzo being siblings goals for 7 minutes_ , _Every time Rizzo interrupts a vlog_ , _Zephyr being done with Alonzo and Zach for 5 minutes_ , _Every time Roz falls asleep on her drumkit_ , _Alonzo and Zach quoting dead memes for 3 minutes..._

"You and Zach _are_ dead memes," Zeph smirked and Al snorted.

"OK, that's a good one...!"

– LIMELIGHT –

At their next band practice, Alonzo insisted on showing the videos to Zach and Roz. While they were both laughing over them, Zephyr noticed something; Roz seemed a little more... _awake_ than usual from the second Al told them what he'd found on YouTube. But they also didn't look too surprised by the videos themselves. When Al and Zach were distracted, Zeph pulled Roz aside.

"You wanna tell me something?"

"... No?"

"So you don't know what's up with those videos?"

Roz avoided making eye contact and shook their head, "Nope."

"Oh, you know," he prodded their chest, "Did you make them?"

"No," they held up their hands in defence, "I swear...!" Zeph quirked an eyebrow and Roz cringed, "... I... might've helped a little..."

" _Helped_?"

"Yeah," they nodded and shrugged, "Just helped."

"Helped who- Wait," he stopped as he realised, "It was Keira, wasn't it?"

"Yup." Roz loudly popped the 'P'.

"Why?"

"'Cause she wanted to. She made the one of me falling asleep 'cause she thought it was cute and it just kinda went from there."

Zephyr huffed, "I swear, next time I see her I am gonna-"

"No, you're not," Roz stated confidently.

"... No, I'm not..." he muttered, watching Al point out something in another video to Zach.


	50. Rizzo and Zephyr: Birthday

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Hey, so after the sad stuff that's going down in Since We Broke Up (the future fic), I think we need to go back to nice, happy Zephyr, don't you? With a touch of nice, happy Zephzo~ The future fic takes place like, three years after all this. They get to be cute and happy for three more years. And Rizzo gets to tease Zephyr for the rest of her life. Cuz that's what big sisters do ;)

If you're reading Since We Broke Up, please drop a review on it and let me know what you think...!

Also wow, this is the 50th Limelight! \^^/

* * *

Rizzo and Zephyr

Birthday

The twins were turning seventeen.

And every year, as far as Zephyr could remember, was the exact same.

Pretty much since she had learned to talk, Rizzo would always spend the few days leading up to their birthday asking their mother, over and over again, what time she was born. Not when _they_ were born, when _she_ was born specifically.

"12:24."

Then, and only then...

"And what time was Zephyr born?"

"12:27."

He could tell his mom was just as sick of answering the question as he was of hearing it, but if she refused then it would only result in Rizzo pestering her even more. And she only ever asked when Zephyr was in the room, too, just so that when she got her answer, she could shoot him that smug smile _every_. _Damn_. _Time_. It was three days away now. Three more days of being sixteen before the inevitable mentally distressing three minutes of Rizzo gloating about being 'older' – as if she didn't already do that on a daily basis as it was.

Three more days of hearing that question every few hours. By the time their birthday finally rolled around, Zephyr was at the breaking point.

Both Alonzo and Zane were over at the Styx's house late in the morning before they'd be going to meet up with Roz, Zach, Bonzo, Zed, Eliza, Azalea and (possibly) Paizley.

The second the clock hit 12:24, everyone in the house knew about it. Rizzo came striding downstairs, arms raised like a queen gracing her subjects with her presence. Zane, following behind her much less ceremoniously, struggled not to laugh as she announced that she had, in fact, aged. Officially. Zephyr and Alonzo were in the kitchen and when he heard his sister's voice, he groaned and dropped his head back onto Al's shoulder, making him chuckle.

"Kill me..."

Rizzo appeared in the doorway, posing like a model, "Yes, you heard right, it happened. Another year has gone by. You are now looking at Miss Rizzo Styx, age seventeen!"

"So, how's it feel?" Al asked with a smirk and Rizzo dropped the act as she came over to them.

"Honestly, not that different. And yet, I feel like I've achieved something. Something that _you_ ," she patted Zeph on the head and he narrowed his eyes, "Will understand when you're older."

"We're _both_ older."

"When you're as old as _me_ , sweetie."

He had to take a moment to calm himself before he snapped.

"We, both of us, _together_ ," Zephyr pointed between them, "We were _both_ born seventeen years ago today. We are both seventeen."

"Ah, ah, ah...! I think you will find, baby," she reached out to tickle his chin and he swatted her away. She pointed to the clock. 12:25, " _I_ am seventeen. _You_ have still got two more minutes left."

"Did you even hear anything I just said? We have both existed for seventeen years. We're both seventeen years old. Please. For the love of Z, Rizzo, can this _stop_?"

Rizzo just kept smiling sweetly, "Nope!"

"Zeph..." Alonzo, standing behind him, squeezed his shoulders.

Zephyr didn't even acknowledge him, "We're the same age."

Al sighed, snaked his arms around Zephyr's waist and rested his chin on his shoulder, "It's not that big a deal..."

"But she does this _every year_!" he looked from his boyfriend to his sister, glaring at her, " _We are the same age_."

"We will be. In one more minute."

"Takes less than a minute to rip a foot off," Zephyr threatened, but Alonzo was holding onto him and Rizzo laughed as he tried to break free before giving up and settling for nestling into Al's arms.

"I win this time," she said with a smirk, turned and walked away.

Zephyr shouted after her, "You're not _winning_ anything...!" but he was obviously far too comfortable where he was to follow her.

Rizzo made her way back over to Zane, who had overheard her conversation with her brother and was laughing a little to himself, "Are you ever gonna leave him alone?"

"Never. What kind of a big sister would I be if I didn't abuse my power every now and again?"

"A good one?"

"A _boring_ one," she corrected.

Zane laughed again, "You do this every year! He has to be getting bored of it by now."

"That's the beauty of it; it's boring to him but it never will be to me!"

Rizzo kept her eye on the time as they talked and ran back to the kitchen at exactly 12:27. Finding her little brother with his hands in his boyfriend's hair, Al's lips pressed to his neck, she grinned to herself.

"Happy birthday Zeph!"

" _Zragh vak...!_ " Zeph jumped back from Al, glaring daggers at Rizzo, "Are you serious?"

She just batted her eyelashes innocently, bringing her hands behind her back and swaying slightly, "What do you mean?"

"You did that on purpose! You know damn well what you just interrupted."

"What?" Rizzo asked defensively, "I don't know your business!"

Zephyr gave a sarcastic nod, "You don't know my business? Like you're not in my business every second of the day. Can't you just give me a break?"

"Oh, we both know the answer to that, honey."


	51. Zeke and Izabelle: Babysitting

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

The triumphant return of Limelight! I've had this one-shot, and a few others, sitting on the backburner while I was writing both Out Of Place and Since We Broke Up and now that both of those are (mostly) over (Since We Broke Up will have an alternate ending), we can get back to the regular everyday lives of the BG zoms~! And even Beyond The Barrier, too! And if you didn't see, I'm working on a very angsty bonus chapter for Tattooed Mistakes ;) AND I'm planning a short fic about Alonzo's family background and his parents' divorce, kind of like Out Of Place. I have a lot of good stuff coming ^^

* * *

Zeke and Izabelle

Babysitting

"So, you're cancelling?"

It was _supposed_ to be their first date. Then Zeke called her up the day before.

"... Yeah. Sorry, Belle, but I can't get out of it," Zeke said and he heard Izabelle sigh, "Hey, so we can't go out tomorrow night but-"

"I was..." her voice sounded so soft and shy, which was rare to hear and it made Zeke go quiet, "... Really looking forward to it..."

He recovered quickly, "Why don't you help me babysit?"

"... Me? _Babysit_?"

"C'mon, you won't have to do anything. I can take care of them and once they're both asleep, then we'll have a little time to ourselves."

That was tempting, but Izabelle didn't exactly have much experience with children. Bonzo was only a few months younger than her and she hadn't ever been particularly close to anyone else. Then again, this meant she'd be meeting Zeke's little brother and sister. That was, like, an important step in a relationship, right? Meeting their family? She had seen Blaze and Jozlyn around town plenty of times before, she knew who they were, but she never had a reason to interact with them in any way until now.

"... Don't your parents kind of hate me?"

"They don't _hate_ you."

"Pretty sure they do."

"They _don't_ hate you," he insisted, "They're just warming up to you, OK?"

"They do _not_ want me at your house, though. Especially not around your brother and sister," Izabelle said and he couldn't argue, "People say I'm a bad influence." She sounded both hurt and proud of that, somehow.

"Come over after they're gone."

"See. I _am_ a bad influence." Proud. Definitely proud.

Zeke laughed to himself, "Is that a yes?"

"It's a yes."

– LIMELIGHT –

"... Joey?" Zeke tried to coax his sister out from behind him but she just gripped his leg tighter and hid her face. He huffed, "She's not gonna hurt you, if that's what you're worried about."

Izabelle, who had just entered the Blakeleys' house, bit her lip trying not to laugh at the sight. Jozlyn clung to her big brother's leg, barely even letting him move, and had been like that ever since she saw that Izabelle Graves was in their house. Zeke heaved a sigh when she still didn't let go and reached down. After a few attempts he eventually managed to prize her off and picked her up. He only had to take a single step closer to Iza for Jozlyn to frantically bury her face in his neck, and he struggled not to smile. This wasn't so out of the ordinary for her.

He leaned closer to her ear to whisper something comforting and Izabelle stifled a giggle. It normally wasn't this easy to break her but... it was _Zeke_ , and she just couldn't help it. He was standing right in front of her now and Jozlyn turned her head enough to look at her with one eye.

"... She's scary..."

"I'm only scary to people I _want_ to scare."

She glanced at Zeke and when she saw him crack a smile, Izabelle bit her lip and quickly looked back at Jozlyn, who still seemed nervous but her expression had changed.

"... Do you want to scare me...?" she asked in a small voice and Iza simply shook her head, "... OK."

Her brother put her down again and she smiled shyly at Izabelle, until someone called out from above.

" _Zeke!_ "

Zeke groaned and rolled his eyes, " _What?_ "

Iza looked up to see Blaze crouching on a step halfway down the stairs, hands gripping the bannister as he stared down at her with a scowl on his face.

"Mom said she's not allowed to come over."

"Mom's not here. I'm in charge, and I say she is allowed to come over."

"I'm gonna tell."

Izabelle slowly locked eyes with him and he faltered. She cocked her head, " _Are_ you?"

Blaze mumbled something incoherent and backed away, hurrying upstairs again. Iza turned to Jozlyn.

"See? That's how you do it."

From then on, Jozlyn very quickly warmed up to Izabelle, while Blaze steered clear of her. Jozlyn was practically attached to her and Zeke until he put her to bed, with Izabelle watching, a little awkwardly, from the door. When they eventually went back downstairs, Zeke shot her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry about her. I didn't think she'd want that much attention."

"It's cool," Izabelle shrugged as she went to sit on the couch, "Jozlyn's... cute..." she didn't know what else to say. But she did honestly think Jozlyn was cute.

Zeke smiled and walked over to sit beside her, "She's convinced I'm already a cheerleader. The zombies' tryouts aren't even for another week!"

Izabelle's face broke into a grin, "Oh, my Z, I almost forgot about that! Finally...!"

Zeke laughed, surprised, " _Finally_? You're that excited for me?"

Trying to look nonchalant now, Iza shrugged, avoiding his eyes, "I'm mostly excited to see you in the uniform."

"I doubt you're saying that 'cause you think I'll look hot in it," he leaned closer to her, "You just wanna laugh at me, don't you?"

"Hmm. It's a little of both," she said casually until she saw the teasing look on his face, "... Maybe it's a little _more_ that I'll get to laugh at you."

Zeke put an arm around her and pulled her in, "Y'know, the humans all seem to think _dating_ a cheerleader is, like, the next best thing to actually _being_ a cheerleader. Think about that, we're already the toughest kids in Zombie Town, pretty soon we're gonna have Seabrook High at our feet, too."

"If you make the squad," she reminded him but he just cocked his head.

"You think I can't make the squad?"

Izabelle smiled evilly and reached up to brush his hair aside, "You better. Or else those draks are gonna have to answer to me."

"Now, this is what a supportive girlfriend looks like."

He kissed her but they were quickly interrupted by a voice coming from the doorway, "Ewww!"

Zeke and Iza both turned to see Blaze standing there with a look of disgust on his face.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Zeke demanded and Blaze tried his best not to look like he was cowering away from Izabelle, which he obviously was. He pointed at her.

"She's still here."

"Yeah, so?" Zeke quirked an eyebrow, "Are you gonna tell Mom and Dad?"

Izabelle tilted her head and smiled at Blaze, maybe looking a little bit intimidating, "You're not getting rid of me, gralzig."

That seemed to make him nervous and he gulped. He clearly hadn't thought this far and didn't know what else to say. Zeke glanced from Blaze to Izabelle and back again.

"... Alright, if I let you stay up a little while longer, you've gotta swear you won't tell them Izabelle was ever here, got it?"

At that, Blaze's face split into a grin and he nodded. Izabelle turned to Zeke with a smirk.

"I really am a bad influence."


	52. Roz: Tryouts

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

I'm getting back into the swing of things now, guys! I have a lot of Limelights in the works, plus a BtB, more planned for both and the Tattooed Mistakes bonus chapter is becoming a multichapter sequel! Maybe just a two- or three-shot, but it could end up even longer! And it's just as angsty, if not moreso, than the original TM~

But here on the canon timeline, everything's fine and we have some Rozeira to enjoy ^^

* * *

Roz

Tryouts

"I know Bucky's been a little nicer lately, but he's still _Bucky_..."

Roz had to agree with that, but still, they weren't going to just accept that their girlfriend might not make the squad, "Addison's gonna be there, right? She'll make sure he's being fair."

After the cheer championship, Bucky had apparently done some soul-searching and decided to give those he may have been a little too harsh on the first time around another chance, so Keira, and a few other humans, were going to a second tryout.

"I guess..." Keira nodded. She and Roz were walking hand-in-hand towards the gym, while the halls were relatively quiet, "... You think I can do it?"

"Are you kidding me? You were on fire at the championship!" Roz nudged her gently with their shoulder, making Keira giggle, "And with a smile like that, they'll be _lucky_ to have you on the team," they quirked an eyebrow and smirked as Keira laughed, starting to blush and nudging Roz back, "Cheerleaders are supposed to have these beautiful, bright smiles, right?"

"Oh, my God...!" Keira covered her mouth, still laughing and still blushing, and Roz relished in the sound, then faked a pout as they pulled her hands down.

"Hey, no fair! I can't see it that way!"

Neither of them could stop giggling now until Keira took a breath and sighed.

"I'm still a little nervous..." she mumbled, chewing her bottom lip, "Bucky can be pretty intimidating."

"Listen, Keira," Roz took both her hands and looked her in the eye, "You're amazing," they let go and stepped back, "You're gonna be amazing."

Keira smiled down at them, her hands clasped in front of her as she swayed side-to-side, "Kiss for good luck?"

Roz gladly obliged, standing on tiptoes as Keira leaned down to peck their lips, her hands cupping her face while they rested theirs on her waist. Pulling away, Keira moved her hands down to Roz's shoulders.

"Grodge zugrak, garzi'ka."

Keira thought for a moment, "... OK, I know 'grodge' and I know 'garzi'ka'..."

"I said 'good luck'," Roz explained and Keira beamed, giving them another kiss.

"Gazaru!" _Thank you!_

Z, Roz could swear they actually had a heartbeat whenever Keira spoke Zombie.

But then a few other humans were showing up outside the gym. No zombies. Not today, at least. Not that Roz wanted to join the cheer squad themself, but it was obvious Bucky still wanted to prioritise the humans. And they knew for a fact that the only reason zombies were going to get to try out at all was because Zeke Blakeley had punched some guy in the face over it.

Roz was shaken from their thoughts by Keira hugging them tightly.

"I'll text you later, OK?"

"Alright. Have fun!"

Keira rolled her eyes exaggeratedly as she stepped back, "I'll try," she grinned when Roz laughed, then waved and finally turned to follow the others.

Roz stood staring after her for a moment or two until their Z-band beeped and they snapped back to reality. They looked down at the screen, frowning at the rude interruption, and two more messages came in as they did.

 **Zephyr:** you know I can see you

 **Zephyr:** and I've been calling your name for ages

 **Zephyr:** come on we got practice

Their eyes went wide and their head jerked up; Zephyr was leaning against the wall a few feet away with a knowing smirk on his face. He walked over.

"You done daydreaming about her yet?"

Roz gave him a look of 'you're kidding, right?'.

"Right, like you never zone out thinking about Alonzo."

"How dare you call me out like that?" Zephyr demanded, acting offended until Roz laughed, "Come on, the guys are waiting for us."

"More like _Al's_ waiting for _you_."

"Oh, so we're playing this game now, huh?"

– LIMELIGHT –

They were taking a break when Roz got a text as they were drifting off to sleep on their drumkit, waiting for Al and Zach to figure something out. They blinked a few times then looked down at their Z-band to see Keira's name and quickly opened it, then grinned.

"What, something keeping you awake, Roz?" Zephyr asked and they waved their hand dismissively at him.

"Shut up."

They were still smiling giddily at their band, though, and Zephyr noticed, "That Keira?" Roz nodded, "What's up?"

"She made the squad!"

"Wait, what?" Alonzo suddenly turned around when he heard, "She got in?"

"Yeah, look," they beckoned him over to show him the text and Zeph and Zach came over as well. Al immediately grabbed Roz by the shoulders, staring straight at them.

"Dude, you know what this means? You're _dating a cheerleader_...!"


	53. Zeke and Izabelle: Jealous

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

This one feels kind of inevitable. Zeke and Izabelle are just the exact kind of ship you get a good protective/jealous girlfriend from. And we're actually seeing quite a bit from some canon characters here...!

The Tattooed Mistakes sequel is just getting longer and longer...

* * *

Zeke and Izabelle

Jealous

Something told him things weren't going as well as he'd hoped they would. That 'something' mostly being the way Bucky seemed to be scowling at him the whole time. It was almost like he was picking on Zeke in particular, pushing him just a little bit harder than the couple of other zombies who were trying out, but he didn't know why. Meanwhile, his assistant captains were, for lack of a better word, captivated by Zeke's stunting.

Every time Zeke was starting to think he'd managed to impress the captain, Bucky would glance over at the Aceys, who were visibly distracted, and his smile would fall. His whole demeanour would change and he'd bark another command. When he finally approached the zombies, his hands clasped behind his back, Zeke was prepared for the worst.

But then Bucky was presenting him with a pair of pom-poms.

"Welcome to the Mighty Shrimp, Zeke."

His smile was a little forced but he _was_ smiling while Zeke gaped.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah," Bucky nodded, searching for words, "You're... great. I can barely see any faults of any kind in your cheering. So, congrats. You're the first zombie to join the squad."

As Zeke was celebrating, Bucky glanced over at the Aceys, who had quickly pulled Addison and Bree aside.

"So, Addison," Lacey started, "You know this Zeke guy? Like, are you friends?"

"I mean, I don't know him _that_ well, but Bree and I have both talked to him before. He's pretty cool."

"Is he single?" Stacey asked, getting straight to the point.

"Uh..."

"And important follow-up question," Tracey interrupted, "Is he into guys?"

Addison looked awkwardly from Tracey, to Stacey, to Lacey, then to all three, "Well... He's definitely not single..." they all continued to stare at her, "He has a girlfriend but I don't know if he's actually _straight_. And anyway, even if I did know, why would I tell you? That's his business."

"Hm," Lacey tilted her head, thinking, and turned to her fellow Aceys, "Looks like we've got some work to do. We can worry about the girlfriend later, he'll totally ditch her anyway once we're through with him."

"Uh, that might not end well. Like, you-might-not-come-out-alive 'not end well'..." Bree winced, exchanging an uneasy look with Addison.

"And what makes you say that?" Tracey asked with a scoff.

"He's dating Bonzo's cousin."

All three of them rolled their eyes, laughing condescendingly.

Stacey cocked her head and folded her arms, "Is that supposed to make us back off?"

"Yeah," Lacey put her hands on her hips, "How scary can somebody be if they're related to _Bonzo_?"

Oh. They didn't know.

"Pretty scary, if it's Iz-" Bree went to explain but Addison placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Fine. Your funeral, I guess."

– LIMELIGHT –

Before he could leave, the Aceys stopped him.

"Hey, Zeke, hold on!" Lacey called out and he frowned but waited as the three of them came running over, all with entirely too friendly grins on their faces, "So, I know Bucky introduced us earlier but we thought it would be rude not to _personally_ welcome our newest Shrimp! I'm Lacey, this is Stacey," she gestured to her right, "And Tracey," to her left, "And we're the Aceys!"

Stacey subtly pushed her out of the way, making her scowl, "You were great at the championship."

" _So_ great," Tracey echoed, also trying to get closer.

Zeke held up his hands, taking a step back and trying to hold his smile, "Thanks, guys. And, you know, I'm super psyched for this but I really need to get going."

"You don't have to go yet!" Tracey said brightly and Zeke shrugged apologetically.

"Sorry, but I kinda do," he said, not entirely meaning it but it wasn't in his nature to be needlessly mean, "I gotta go meet my girlfriend."

All three of them pouted and Zeke groaned internally. He knew exactly what was happening and he did _not_ want to deal with this.

"She can wait," Lacey put a hand on his arm. He looked down at it, then up at her as he chewed the inside of his cheek, literally biting back any comment he could make, "You've got a lot to catch up on. And you know, we've been so wrong about zombies."

" _So_ wrong," Stacey cut in, and she and Tracey nodded emphatically. Lacey continued.

"But we haven't had much of a chance to talk to any of you guys since the block party."

Zeke slowly lifted her hand off his arm, keeping his eyes locked on her and his jaw set, "You see zombies around school all the time. You probably have classes with some of them. Try talking to somebody. Make a friend."

Tracey gestured to him, "But _you're_ here right now. We might as well take the opportunity, right?"

He was gradually getting more and more irritated, suddenly remembering why he had always hated cheerleaders. But now he was one of them and if he wanted to keep that title, he'd have to let them down gently. And not make them angry.

"Maybe some other time."

But they just kept pulling him back. Over and over _and over again_.

It soon became clear that they'd had him trapped in the gym for far too long, because at that moment, the door crashed open to reveal a surprisingly small zombie teen who was... less than thrilled to have been kept waiting.

Izabelle's eyes fell on the human hands touching _her_ boyfriend and she gritted her teeth.

" _What do you think you're doing?_ "

As the Aceys snatched their hands away with wide-eyed fear, Zeke tipped his head back and let out a sigh of relief, "Oh, thank Z..." he muttered to himself, then he heard the Aceys whispering anxiously to one another.

Stacey was first, "He's dating _Izabelle Graves_?"

"Wait, Bonzo is _related_ to her?" Lacey gasped in shocked.

"Guys," Tracey grabbed both girls' arms, "Guys, she's looking at us. _She's looking at us. What do we do_?"

Lacey quickly composed herself and stepped forward, her arms folded, but she struggled to hide how she was shaking as she tried to stare Izabelle down, "We were just talking. He tried out for cheer, we're just doing our job."

Iza raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Because it looks like tryouts are over. You've done your job. Now back off of my boyfriend before I make you."

Lacey faltered under her cold gaze, "Oh... H-he's _your_ boyfriend...?"

"We had _no_ idea...!" Stacey tried to play along, as did Tracey, nodding beside her. Their smiles did nothing to hide the pure terror on their faces. Izabelle slowly began walking towards them.

"So, now you're _lying_ to me?"

"No!"

"We seriously didn't know!"

"You think I'd believe that he didn't _tell_ you?"

"He said he had a _girlfriend_ ," Stacey started to explain but Izabelle interrupted before she could say anything else.

"You knew he had a girlfriend... and you still _touched_ him...?"

The Aceys all gulped and barely managed to mumble a short "Yeah..."

Izabelle's lips quirked up in an unnerving smile. She giggled sweetly and Zeke was ready for all hell to break loose. He watched as she took the last few steps to stand right in front of Stacey, Tracey and Lacey, "You know..." she smiled up at them, but it gradually faded as her expression turned sour, "I could so easily just _crack your little heads open_!"

All three of their faces fell and they jumped back in fright, clinging to one another for safety as Izabelle lunged at them only to be grabbed from behind by her boyfriend.

"Belle!" he pulled her close and she huffed, still glaring at the Aceys, as he hissed in her ear, "They're not worth it," he brought a hand up to stroke her hair, hoping to get her to turn around, away from the offending humans, "Come on, _please_ don't mess this up for me, I _just_ made the squad...!"

All her rage melted away in an instant. She spun around in his arms, staring up at him with wide eyes, "You made the squad?"

She was actually smiling. No, she was _beaming_. Zeke grinned back at her.

"Yeah!"

Surprisingly, Izabelle let out a shrill squeal and jumped up, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kicked her feet up off the floor. He laughed, a little caught off guard, and lowered her back down but she was bouncing on her heels now. He had pretty much forgotten that the Aceys were still watching them, whispering and whining to each other about how unfair life was. Izabelle, however, was fully aware of them standing there. She turned her head just enough to see them out of the corner of her eye without letting Zeke notice and once they realised she was looking at them, she shot them an evil smirk and turned back to Zeke. She ran her fingers through his hair, pulling him down to her level.

"Ag greeka..." _My cheerleader..._

Iza wasn't normally one for PDA, at least not anything big and obvious with everyone around her watching. Kissing was usually limited to quick pecks when they were in front of people, so Zeke was shocked, in the best way, by how her lips were moving against his right now. He let his eyes fall shut and enjoyed the moment for as long as it would last. Once she pulled away, he was a little too dazed to see her flash a smug grin back at the Aceys, who were now practically bubbling with rage, as was Bucky at how easily Zeke could distract his assistant captains.

"... _Wow_..."

Zeke couldn't do much but stare at Izabelle with a goofy smile on his face as she smirked and took his hand, leading him towards the door.

Stacey, Tracey and Lacey were left stunned into silence, which was quickly broken when Bree, Keira and Addison burst into fits of giggles.


	54. Rizzo and Zephyr: The Foot

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Updating every couple of days now so nothing new to say since last time other than I love this concept and I love the twins~

* * *

Rizzo and Zephyr

The Foot

You know what sucks? Being twelve. And you know what makes it even worse? When you're a twelve-year-old zombie with a twin brother like Zephyr Styx. And Rizzo was the only person in the world with that unique, and exhausting, experience.

All because zombies were capable of removing their limbs. And _each other's_ limbs.

It was the middle of winter and although zombies' weren't nearly as effected by the cold as humans wore, that didn't mean they didn't get a little chilly from time to time. And Rizzo was bundled up in a blanket with a cup of bloody cocoa, reading. Or, she _was_ , until Zephyr threw her door open, making demands right off the bat.

"Riz, I need your blanket."

"Why?"

"I'm _cold_."

She gave him a look of 'yeah, duh' and gestured to the window where they could still see the snow falling, " _And?_ So am I?"

"You've got a drink," Zeph pointed out.

"Go make one for yourself, then. I'm not giving up the blanket," she took a sip and went back to her book.

"That takes _effort_."

She didn't look up, "Mm-hmm..."

When he didn't say anything else, but she didn't hear him leaving, Rizzo started to worry. The blanket was suddenly ripped away from her body and she gasped, putting the mug down and standing up. Before Zephyr could get out the door again, she had seized it and started a tug-of-war, which she eventually won. But her brother didn't give up easily.

Once her back was turned, he dived to the floor and grabbed her leg, instantly bringing her crashing down along with him. The blanket floated to the ground, forgotten.

"You're not getting very far without your foot...!"

"Don't you dare!"

With Rizzo kicking erratically to try and get him off, Zephyr struggled to keep his grip on her but he was determined to follow through on his threat. He squeezed her ankle until the skin ripped, then the muscle crumpled and he twisted until the bone popped out and hurried to shuffle away from her. He held her foot up out of reach as he scrambled to his feet, still catching his breath.

" _Zephyr_..."

He tucked the foot under his arm and took off. Rizzo slowly got up, leaning against the wall, but he was already down the stairs and out the front door. It had stopped snowing now and the street was covered in a layer of white. Zed was out with his little sister, who had to be only about two or three, and the two of them were building a snowman together in their mini light garden opposite the Styx family's house.

"Hey, Zed!" Zephyr called out and the siblings both turned to look, "Heads up!"

He tossed the foot over to him like a football and Zed easily caught it. His eyes widened and he stifled a laugh.

"Is this _Rizzo's_?"

"Uh-huh," he nodded proudly.

Zoey stood on tiptoes, trying to get a look at it. Zed managed to keep it out of her reach, but then she got an idea, "Zedka, gava! Zama garzog!" _Zed, bury it! Like a dog!_

"Geh, zon..." _Hey, no..._ Zed started but Zephyr shrugged.

"No, no, it's cool," he crouched down in front of Zoey, "If she wants bury it, then lets bury it."

Zed didn't need any more convincing.

By the time Rizzo had maneuvered herself down the stairs and over to the open front door on one foot, the three of them were piling snow on top of it.

"That better not be what I think it is, Zephyr!"

Zed and Zoey looked up, suddenly afraid, but Zephyr just laughed, "What if it is? How you gonna get over here?"

Rizzo was seething and Zoey glanced from her brother, to Rizzo and back again with a scared look in her eyes.

"Zongro...?" _Is this bad...?_

Rizzo called out to her before either of the boys could say anything, "Zon ru bragan, zreeka!" _It's not your fault, sweetie!_ she threw an irritated look at Zephyr, "Ag zonzrar janook." _It's my idiot brother._

Zoey immediately scowled up at Zed and Zephyr and went about digging up the foot. They stood there, watching in stubborn silence, as she took it back to Rizzo. She then skipped past them and went back inside, Zed groaning as he realised he would probably be in trouble now. He followed her in while Zephyr, still smirking as his sister sat on the porch, grumbling to herself.

"You're insane," she muttered, just barely looking up as he reach the drive.

"Says you."

"I could've gotten hypothermia or something!"

Zephyr bit his lip to keep from laughing, "Can zombies even get hypothermia?"

Rizzo paused in her work, lifting her head to scowl at him, "I don't wanna be the one who finds out!" then resumed attaching her foot, "And getting a sweet, innocent little kid like Zoey to play along, that is a new low, Zeph."

"Worth it."


	55. Zach: Distraction

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

I said I was updating Limelight every two days then just... stopped... :/ ANYWAY

*whispers very softly* The Tattooed Mistakes sequel is coming Thursday, check out the promo video on krut09's YouTube channel (Kreatable23)...!

* * *

Zach

Distraction

Zach let out a long sigh as the human boy he'd been _trying_ to impress rolled his eyes and brushed past him. Telling people he was in a band was not working, and neither was bringing up the fact that he had helped at the cheer championship. He leaned against his locker for a second or two, scanning the other humans and zombies along the hallway until he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"What was _that_?"

He didn't even have time to turn around before Alonzo was lightly smacking him upside the head as he gestured towards the human walking away.

"Another failure, obviously," Zach shrugged and pulled a face, but other than that, he didn't seem all that upset.

Al frowned as Zephyr and Roz joined them, "I thought you liked Diaz? Why are you still going after random humans?"

Zach sharply turned away and started fiddling with his Z-band the second Diaz was mentioned, "Because...!" he trailed off, then muttered, "... I'm serious about Diaz..."

Now Al was completely lost, "... You're serious about Diaz... so you're hitting on people... who... _aren't_ Diaz...?"

After a pause, Zach nodded, "Yup."

"... _Why_?"

Roz groaned and tipped her head back, "It's 'cause he's a coward, Al."

"Hey!"

They all ignored him as they started walking down the hall.

Al snapped his fingers, "Right, 'cause you're scared of getting rejected," he pointed back at where the human boy had been, having disappeared round the corner by now, "What do you call _that_?"

"Somebody I'm already getting over," Zach stated plainly, "But I don't _want_ to get over Diaz. I don't want to have one conversation with him, get shot down then move on like I always do. I wanna _know_ him."

Zephyr raised an eyebrow, "So, how are you supposed to get to know him if you never talk to him?"

"... Don't call me out like that, Zeph."

"You seriously aren't even gonna try?" Zephyr just laughed. He shook his head, "Man, you're pathetic."

"Oh, _I'm_ pathetic?" Zach challenged, a small smile on his face, "I'm sorry, remind me, how long did it take you to even admit you were crushing on Al?"

Zephyr's smile disappeared. "This is _not_ about me."

Before they could get any further, though, a certain zombie at the other end of the hallway caught Zach's attention.

"Oh, Z, there he is..." he muttered, just loud enough for his friends to hear him and they all looked up.

Zeke, Fritz and Diaz were walking some distance ahead of BFZ. Even with his back to him, Zach couldn't take his eyes off of Diaz. Al nudged him encouragingly.

"Go talk to him!"

"No. No way. I-I, I can't."

"You _can't_?" Al gave a disbelieving laugh, but Zach was already letting himself be distracted again. A girl none of them knew – another human – was walking past and his nervous expression was quickly replaced by his usual 'charming' smile as Al rolled his eyes, "Zach...!"

Zach ignored him and the three of them watched as he talked to the girl, obviously wasting both his time and hers. When she turned and walked away, he let out a short huff but that was all. Roz was the first to speak.

"How long are you gonna keep this up?"

Zach's eyes shifted from her to the girl and back again, feigning confusion, "Keep what up?"

"Using other people as a distraction!" they hissed, "If you're so desperate to get a date, why waste your time on people you don't really care about? You don't _know_ if Diaz is gonna turn you down!"

She gestured down the hall towards Diaz and his friends as they were just leaving. Zach briefly glanced up at him with a pained expression, then shook his head and returned to arguing. Zephyr also joined in and so when something did happen, Alonzo was, amazingly, the first to notice. His eyes went wide and he looked back and forth between Diaz, who was now disappearing from sight, and Zach.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...!" he quickly grabbed Zach by the shoulder and turned him around, causing Zeph and Roz to stop, too, "Did you see that?"

Zach frowned, "See what?"

"Dude, Diaz just looked at you!"

His jaw dropped, " _What_?"

Al nodded, "Before they went around the corner. He turned back and he looked. Right. At. You."

"You're kidding."

"I _swear_."

"Great!" Zach said with a sarcastic smile, throwing his arms up, "Perfect! He probably saw me talking to that girl, too."

Al gave him a gentle shove, "So _what_? He's seen you talking to a million people! How's this any different?"

" _Because_ -"

Roz suddenly spoke up, "Wait, Zach, no. Al's got a point."

"I do?" both he and Zach frowned at Roz, but then Al quickly recovered and lightly punched Zach's arm, prompting him to turn round, "I _do_!" he said, more confidently. He opened his mouth to speak, closed it again, paused and looked back at Roz, "What's my point?"

"He still turned around, even though he knows you were flirting with somebody else. If he _is_ interested, then he obviously isn't letting that put him off."

"OK, yeah, but that's only _if_ he's interested."

Al groaned and slumped over Zach's shoulder, "He _is_ interested...!" Zach stared blankly back at him while Zephyr bit his lip and turned away to (unsuccessfully) hide his smile. Al straightened up, grabbed Zach's arms and shook him aggressively, "I saw the look on his face! He is _so_ into you!"

"Alright, garzi'ka, calm down," Zephyr gently pried his hands off of Zach and pulled him away, "Let me handle this."

"This could be _so easy_...!"

"I know, I know..."

Al pouted but easily gave in, wrapping his arms around Zephyr and resting his chin on his head while he spoke to Zach.

"Look, do you actually want a shot at this? Do you _want_ to date Diaz?"

" _Yes!_ Obviously!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't be hitting on other people, at least not when he's around."

"Or at all."

"We got that, garzi'ka," Zeph patted his hand, "What I'm saying is he'll think he doesn't have a chance with you. You still haven't actually _talked_ to him for real."

"I'm _going_ to!" Zach insisted, not meeting Zephyr's eyes.

"When?"

He still wouldn't look at any of them, but they were all staring pointedly at him.

"... Someday."


	56. Diaz, Zeke and Fritz: Mean

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Ever closer to Zaz getting together...

I'm also considering a new BGZ ship but I haven't written one of the characters involved into anything yet so I'm gonna try to do that first and see if the ship will actually work

* * *

Diaz, Zeke and Fritz

Mean

Whenever BFZ played at a zombie mash, or anywhere else, he kept his eyes on Zach. When they passed by his friends' table in the cafeteria, he couldn't help looking up at the sound of Zach's voice. When Alonzo had dared Zach to do something ridiculous, he had to bite his lip to keep from laughing while Zeke rolled his eyes. And when a new video was uploaded to the band's YouTube, he was among the first to watch it.

Zeke, however, had his doubts about Zach. He kept insisting that he could never be in a real relationship; he wouldn't be able to keep his eyes from wandering, he didn't take people's feelings seriously, and he never _genuinely_ liked anyone he flirted with anyway. Diaz was determined to prove him wrong, though. He just couldn't picture Zach Fairmourn as anything but a good person. He was funny and witty, unashamedly _himself_ , a talented dancer _and_ musician, he obviously cared a lot about his friends, and trusted them completely, and they trusted him, too. Plus, if he could call people like Zane Nao and Denzel De'Ath his friends, how bad could he really be?

If only Zeke would stop being so negative whenever the subject came up.

"Look, I get it, OK?" Diaz snapped when he had once again insisted that Zach wasn't worth it, "He's not interested, he's not serious, but do you have to be so..." he trailed off, searching for the right word, "... _Mean_ about it?"

"Mean?" Zeke suddenly stopped, looking almost hurt. He had always prided himself on never being (needlessly) mean. He would call people out if he felt he had to, and he didn't hesitate to throw a punch if it came to that, but it was against everything he stood for to say or do _anything_ just for the sake of being _mean_. He faltered, "Dee, come on, I'm not being mean. I'm just looking out for you!"

"I don't need you looking out for me! I know what kind of person Zach is, I know what I could be getting myself into but whether he completely ignores me or he dumps me after a day, it's my life and you don't get a say in it! And, you know, maybe he'll actually end up surprising you."

"You said you weren't gonna go for it," Zeke frowned cautiously, "Don't tell me you're actually thinking about asking him out or something..."

"No!" that didn't sound convincing, "Just... you know, if it did happen."

"This isn't sounding so good."

"It's not your choice, Zeke!" Diaz couldn't help shouting. He was getting so frustrated with how controlling his supposed best friend was trying to be. Sure, Zeke had always been protective of his close friends, but there was a thin line between protective and possessive.

Zeke didn't respond, instead he stood his ground and stared Diaz down, Diaz glaring back at him just as stubbornly until he turned and stormed off. Groaning, Zeke spun round to look at Fritz, who had been watching in silence up until this point.

"Would you _please_ talk some sense into him?"

He just shrugged, "I don't know what you expect me to say to him, but I'll give it a try."

– LIMELIGHT –

"I know what you're gonna say," Diaz said the second he saw Fritz approaching, "Listen to Zeke and give up 'cause he knows what he's talking about and he just doesn't want me to ge-"

"That is not what I'm gonna say," Fritz interrupted and Diaz went quiet for a few seconds.

"... He sent you over here to talk to me, didn't he?"

Fritz nodded once, "Yeah," then he shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets, "That doesn't have to mean I agree with him. Or that I'm gonna tell you what he _wants_ me to tell you."

"So... you _don't_ agree with him...?"

He shook his head, "Not completely."

"Which means you _do_ agree with him."

"It means," Fritz smiled, "If you're really serious about this, then I say go for it. Unlike Zeke, I don't think Zach's _entirely_ hopeless. But..." Diaz quirked an eyebrow as he trailed off.

"But what?"

"There is still a chance he'd move on pretty fast. So don't go diving headfirst into anything, alright?"

There was a pause as Diaz just looked at him, then turned away for a moment, thinking. After a while, he turned back to Fritz with a confident expression on his face.

"You know what?" he leaned back on one hand, "I don't think he would."

Fritz shook his head, "Don't get your hopes up too high. He'd almost definitely say yes if you asked him out or something and that'd be great, but all I'm saying is don't expect it to last too long."

"Yeah, maybe your right," Diaz gave a non-committal nod, then the corner of his mouth quirked up ever so slightly, "Or maybe when he realises somebody actually likes him, he'll want to hold on to that."

"Is that really what you want, though?"

"What do you mean?"

"If that's how it is, then it wouldn't be because he liked _you_. He'd only be in it just to be in a relationship."

He hadn't thought about that. But it only made him want to prove his point more.

"We'll see."


	57. Zach and Diaz: Party - Part 1

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

It is time!

I have like... four more Zaz Limelights planned atm. After part 2 of this one. I'll be posting another Limelight for the Morgan siblings in between this and part 2, as well as chapter 2 of the Tattooed Mistakes sequel (which is updating every Thursday of October if you're interested in that~)

I saw this pick-up line as a prompt on Tumblr ages ago and just had to use it for Zach. I got an entire 2-parter out of it so :D

* * *

Zach and Diaz

Party – Part 1

For the first time, a human at Seabrook High was hosting a party and actually letting zombies come. Sure, that human was Bucky, and it was mostly per the request of his cousin, but still. Bucky wasn't so bad these days. Addison wanted any friends of _her_ friends – which included the members of BFZ, seeing as they were Bonzo's friends – to be invited. And Bucky wasn't going to turn away his new star stunter or any of _his_ friends.

Diaz still hadn't had many chances to talk to Zach; he was lucky to see his band play, or get anywhere near him on the dancefloor at the zombie mash, or pass by him around Zombie Town or at school. He _had_ noticed Zephyr was becoming a bit of a nuisance to Zeke lately, though. He didn't much care to know _why_ exactly, he was just grateful that Zach was around more often, and what's more was he had even noticed Zach looking his way on more than one occasion. So Diaz made the decision that he'd finally talk to him, for real, at the party. If he could just get away from Zeke…

He wasn't really paying much attention to the conversation; he just knew it was something to do with the girls being their usual selves.

"Y'know, Zadie and Riza weren't actually invited," Zeke was saying.

"Pfft, none of us are ever _invited_ ," Izabelle laughed, "We just crash a party and cause chaos."

Zeke chuckled, "Exactly. But… Belle?" he tilted his head, giving her a pleading look, "Could you maybe _not_ tonight? For my sake? I can't risk losing my spot on the squad when I only just got on."

"Ugh, fine…" she rolled her eyes and groaned, but the corner of her mouth was quirking up a little, "I'll behave, if I have to."

"Thank you…" Zeke smiled and pulled her into a kiss and as he did, Diaz tried to take the opportunity to get away. No such luck, though; Zeke still managed to catch him right before he disappeared, "Hey! Where d'you think you're going?"

"Uh, to enjoy the party?" Diaz tried to look nonchalant, "Duh."

Fritz and Izabelle both smirked while Zeke raised an eyebrow suspiciously, "Not to find Zach?"

Diaz scoffed, avoiding eye contact, "No…!"

"Right," Zeke nodded, not believing him for a second.

Izabelle sighed, "Just let him go. It can't hurt."

"It sure as hell can!"

"Zeke," Fritz nudged his arm, "C'mon, let him live a little."

"There's no way I'm gonna-"

But Diaz had already slipped away, turning to shoot Zeke a sly smile and wave, "Bye!"

Zeke was left glaring after him until Izabelle tugged on his sleeve and he was distracted.

– LIMELIGHT –

"So," Zephyr scanned the mixed crowd of humans and zombies as they entered, then turned to Zach with one eyebrow raised, "You got your eye on anybody yet? Or are you finally gonna try for the real thing?"

"What do you mean, 'the real thing'?"

Al laughed, "Isn't it obvious?"

Zach's eyes shifted back and forth, "… Something's obvious to Al but not me, should I be worried?"

That comment earned him a glare from both of them.

"They're talking about Diaz," Roz sighed and Zach was suddenly looking anywhere but at his friends.

"I dunno. Maybe. If I see him, I guess…"

"Alright," Roz smiled teasingly at him as she started to back up, "Well, I'm gonna go find Keira so unless you wanna be stuck with _those two_ ," she pointed at Al and Zeph, who were already getting a little too wrapped up in each other, "I suggest you start looking for him now."

After she left, it took about two seconds for the couple to successfully drive Zach away. He wondered around, seeing who was there, who he recognised, who might make a good rebound after Diaz inevitably turned him down so he could at least pretend he wouldn't be alone forever…

"Zach...?"

He whipped around at the sound of the familiar voice.

Diaz.

Diaz was standing _right there_. Right in front of him. Looking at him. _Smiling_ at him. Zach couldn't keep his eyes from scanning him up and down, landing on his face once again just as he stepped that little bit closer. He seemed nervous, so _adorably_ nervous, and for some reason that gave Zach a boost of confidence. As far as he knew, Diaz rarely got nervous; if he did, he hid it well. But he was nervous now, talking to him.

 _That's good, right?_

"Uh," Diaz briefly glanced away, and Zach smirked to himself while he had the chance, then the second Diaz looked back again, he was waiting expectantly for him to speak, "You got a minute?"

The problem with this situation was that Zach was not the slightest bit prepared, so now his mind was just running on autopilot. Which meant he would say the first thing that he thought of.

The first thing he thought of was _never_ a good thing to say.

He leaned forward and raised an eyebrow, "For you?" the smirk came back, "I got seven in a closet down the hall."

He tipped his head back, indicating the hallway behind him, and winked. He immediately regretted it when Diaz's face slowly fell like he had just almost fallen for some cruel joke. His whole demeanour changed, his shoulders sagging just the tiniest bit as he sighed.

"Does that ever work?" he asked, sounding tired. And maybe even hurt...

Zach cringed and looked down guiltily, "No..." he shook his head before meeting his eyes again, "I'm sorry, Diaz. It's just force of habit, I-I..." he stopped himself before he could make it any worse, "What did you wanna talk about?"

But Diaz only shook his head and began to move away, "It doesn't matter, it's not important."

"Wait..." Zach said, softly at first, then almost shouting as he got further away, "Wait, Diaz...!" He went after him but he quickly lost sight of him as he disappeared into the sea of humans and zombies.

"Diaz?" he tried calling out but his voice was drowned out, then he heard Alonzo behind him.

"Zach? What's up, what happened?"

Zach turned to see him looking confused, as per usual, and slightly worried, with Zephyr and Roz close behind.

"He actually wanted to talk to me! And guess how well that went?"

Roz closed their eyes and dropped their head back, "What did you say to him, Zach?" she asked tiredly.

He hesitated, suddenly embarrassed, "He asked if I had a minute and I said 'I got seven in a closet down the hall'."

Al stifled a laugh, "OK, that's actually a pretty good one!"

" _Al...!_ " Zephyr hissed as Roz smacked his arm and he jumped.

"I mean bad. Bad idea."

Other than Zephyr putting a comforting arm around him, they all ignored Al and Zach continued.

"I don't know what else to do! That's the only way I know! How'd you guys do it?"

"Me and Zeph were already friends," Al reminded him.

Zephyr shot Zach a challenging look and tightened his hold on his boyfriend, " _Best_ friends."

Al laughed, "You're never gonna get over that are you?" he joked and Zeph looked away, failing to hide his smile, "My point is we were already comfortable with each other."

"Oh, yeah, you were _definitely_ comfortable with me," Zephyr chipped in again. Zach stared blankly at them, acting like they were the only two people in the room, "A little _too_ comfortable, if you ask me."

"What can I say? I'm affectionate!" Al grinned and leaned down for a kiss only to be interrupted by Zach.

"You two are clearly not gonna help. Roz, c'mon, please...!" he clasped his hands together.

They just shrugged, though, "I talked to her, I dunno what else to tell you."

"But how do you not get nervous or distracted by how hot or cool someone is and blurt out the first stupid thing that comes to mind?"

Roz held up their hands, "Relax. Don't go diving headfirst into it. You don't need to say anything right away, think about it first."

" _Think_ about it? Roz, buddy, have you met me?" he held out a hand as if for her to shake but she just slowly blinked at him, "Hi, name's Zach Fairmourn, never had a coherent thought in my life."

"Ain't that the truth," Zephyr muttered and Al bit his lip to keep from laughing. Roz and Zach ignored them completely.

" _Especially_ not when I'm looking at someone I like. And let's face it, I have liked a _lot_ of people."

Roz stood looking at him for a few seconds, "Have you ever tried... just telling them you like them...?"

He sighed, "See, that's the problem. It's like... I always need to prove myself or something. I need them to think I'm funny or smart or-"

" _Zach_ ," Roz snapped and he stopped. She grabbed hold of his arms, forcing him to look down at her, "Tell. Diaz. You. Like. Him."

He glanced past her at Al, leaning on Zephyr's shoulder, and Al shrugged.

"Just go for it, man."


	58. Alonzo: Zombie Mash

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

This one has a bit of backstory:

Back when I was first collecting screenshots as references for the BG zombies I realised Alonzo wasn't part of the dance in BAMM so I had an idea that he could have been babysitting his sister and couldn't go to the zombie mash that night. But then I remembered Zach Burke (the dancer who I based Al on) _is_ seen in the Behind The BAMM video in costume (he's behind Kylee) so he _had_ to be in the scene somewhere. I started #FindAlonzoAtTheMash on Tumblr and eventually spotted (who I think is) him to the right in the background when Addison first joins in. I still wanted an explanation for why he wasn't in the main dance, and I liked the babysitting idea, so this covers both of those things

And since this is back during the movie, remember it's pre-Zephzo. There's also a reference to the We're In Zombieland one-shots from my Beyond The Barrier fic collection

* * *

Alonzo

Zombie Mash

" _Tomorrow night?_ "

"Yes, tomorrow night," Hazel nodded, completely understanding why Al was upset.

"Ugh...!" he rolled his eyes and dropped onto the couch, "No, great, fine, I guess we'll just have to cancel the gig last minute and I miss the party of the year."

His mother sighed, "There'll be other parties."

"It's the integration, Mom!" Alonzo exclaimed, gesturing wildly, "There is _never_ going to be another zombie mash like this! And if I'm not there, the band can't play," he huffed then fell silent for a few seconds before turning to her with a scowl, "He's doing this on purpose."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he was," Hazel said calmly, "But he's really not. He had to take on an extra shift at work and you know I have my band check tomorrow night. I could be in containment until morning."

He didn't need to be reminded. He had hoped being at the zombie mash would be a good distraction from worrying about his mom's Z-band maintenance check, especially since BFZ were supposed to be playing, but it turned out his dad was once again ruining things for him, and he had to babysit his little sister. After a few more minutes of sulking, he'd have to call the guys.

– LIMELIGHT –

He heard the sound and immediately grimaced. He didn't even want to look. He had _told_ her not to touch it, multiple times.

"Tell me that wasn't what it sounded like."

"... Sorry..." Lindzey cringed and Alonzo turned around.

Yup. She had managed to snap one of the strings of his guitar.

"You haven't even been here half an hour...!" he muttered as he stood up and snatched it away from her to inspect it.

"Can you fix it?"

"I _literally_ just used the only spare strings I had," he answered, "So, no. I mean, do you know how hard it is for a zombie to get any kind of music equipment, let alone _decent_ equipment?"

Lindzey turned defensive, "Hey, that's not _my_ fault!" but he was ignoring her, focusing on removing the broken string, "Doesn't Zephyr have any spare?"

"He's at the zombie mash! You know, the thing I'm not at right now 'cause I have to take care of you? Where I could've actually been playing this instead?"

If she didn't know any better, his sarcastic tone might have scared her, but this was Alonzo. She knew there were very few things in the world that could actually make him mad, and Lindzey was not one of them. At the most, he was mildly irritated by her. Messing with his music stuff was a pretty high offence, though, and as he went about zipping the guitar back up in its case, he shot her a brief glance and rolled his eyes at the smirk she was struggling to hide.

"Zraghan janook..." he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for her to hear.

Lindzey folded her arms and lifted her chin, almost challenging him, "Mom said not to swear in front of me."

Now, Al smirked back as he came towards her, "Mom also said to take out the trash."

"Wha-"

Before she could even get the words out, Al had scooped her up and hoisted her over his shoulder to carry her outside. She shrieked and beat her fists against his back, demanding he let her go, while he just laughed. He put her down in the middle of the empty driveway and crouched down, trying not to crack up again at the childish pout on her face.

"OK, here's the deal," he started, keeping his voice low, "I am _not_ missing out on this party tonight. So I'm taking you with me," her eyes went wide and he grinned, taking hold of her shoulders, "You get to go to a zombie mash, _the_ biggest, most important zombie mash there has _ever_ been, but you gotta swear on your grave you won't tell Mom or Dad. _Technically_ , I am still watching you. They just... don't need to know _where_."

Lindzey hesitated, "It's almost curfew, though. What if the patrol catches us?"

"We can make it to the plant before they get here. And if they show up there, just stick with me," he assured her, "Got it?" she didn't answer and he gave her an affectionate shove, "C'mon, you always wanted me to take you."

"Yeah, if Dad knew..."

Al rolled his eyes but smiled, "Lindzey, I know I'm stupid, but I'm not _that_ stupid. I'm not gonna let my little sister get thrown in containment. It's a party. It'll be fun!"

"... I don't know..."

Rather than answer, he stood up again and started to back away. She hesitated, nervously playing with her ponytail for a few seconds until he turned around with a teasing smile, "I'm leaving without you...!"

"No, wait...!" she whined, giving in and running after him. She grabbed his hand, leaning right up against his side, still scared of getting caught sneaking out after curfew. Al would have resisted but, honestly, she had every right to be scared, so he just laughed and pulled her along towards the power plant.

– LIMELIGHT –

When they stepped out of the elevator, they were met with a crowd of zombies eagerly running across the dancefloor to gather round a staircase on the other side of the room. Lindzey moved behind Al to keep from getting knocked over but he was soon excitedly urging her forwards.

" _Yes_ , we got here just in time! You are gonna love this, Lin!"

He led her over to the others and lifted her onto his shoulders so she could see a handful of zombies – the only one whose name she knew was Izabelle Graves – stationed at various levers, wheels and controls from the old plant, looking slightly ominous in the green fog, as a strange figure descended the stairs. Lindzey watched and waited, curious, as she heard Bonzo's voice coming through the speakers.

"Gruzic..."

The figure was revealed to be Zed Necrodopolous, and soon he was joined by more zombies as they began to dance. Then she noticed something and gasped; Zed was singing to a human girl, leading her around like it was perfectly normal for her to be there.

"Al...?"

"Ssh, it's getting to the good part!"

"Why's there a human here?"

He looked over at the human then up at his sister and shrugged, "She's just some girl Zed likes, Allison or something. He probably invited her. Don't worry about it."

The dancefloor came to life and Al lowered her back to the ground so they could follow and keep watching. She spotted Zephyr, along with Roz, and a couple more of her brother's friends.

"Why don't you go dance with them, too?" she asked.

"Are you kidding me? You don't just slide in on _BAMM_ , it doesn't work like that."

"Why not?"

"This song is _iconic_ , OK?" he explained, "Zed, Bonzo and Eliza came up with it a while ago and it's basically, like, our anthem or something. You do _not_ risk killing the vibe. If you're too late, you miss it. Now, shut up."

"You're the one talking."

"I _said_ shut up!"

With a huff, Lindzey complied. Eventually, Alonzo decided that even if he couldn't join in the main dance, that didn't mean he couldn't dance at all. He told Lindzey to stay where he could see her but other than that, she could go and do whatever she wanted. When the song ended, Al hurried over to his friends. Zach was the first to see him.

"Al?" he grinned, "What are you doing here, I thought you were babysitting tonight?"

"Oh, I am," he said, tipping his head briefly towards Lindzey, who was a few feet away, looking a lot more enthusiastic now.

Zephyr glanced from Al to Lindzey and back again, raising an eyebrow sceptically, "You brought your little sister? To a zombie mash? After curfew?"

"What's the worst that could happen?"

Zach took a breath, "Well-" but Al interrupted him before he could start the long list.

"Guys, I couldn't _not_ come! And I couldn't leave her home alone! Plus, now I'm the cool big brother who takes her to high school parties."

"Only until you get caught," Roz pointed out plainly and Al rolled his eyes.

"I can't take her home now when the patrol could be in town any minute," he reminded them, "There's no going back. It's fine as long as I don't let her out of my sight."

"Oh, yeah?" Zach cocked his head, "You know where she is right now?"

Al's face dropped and he spun round only to find she was still right where he left her. He turned back to Zach, who was chuckling to himself, with a sour expression. Both Zephyr and Roz had to bite their lips to keep from laughing. Al pointed a finger at Zach.

"Don't do that."

For a while, it seemed like Al might actually be right for once; they might actually get away with it. He knew they'd have to head home earlier than the others, seeing as he couldn't be sure when exactly their mom would get home, but they still had plenty of time knowing how long Z-band maintenance could take.

The last he checked, Lindzey was only a short distance away, her head tipped back to watch Eliza operating the lights up on the catwalk above the dancefloor.

Then things took a turn for the worst.

" _ZPD!_ "

Everyone was running around in a blind panic as the lights shut off and the zombie patrol began to grab whoever they could. It was in that moment that Alonzo finally looked around and realised his sister was nowhere to be seen.

"... Lindzey?" he called out, barely audible over the frenzy. The seriousness of the situation took a moment to sink in, then he was pushing back against the zombies running for the escape, practically screaming to be heard, " _Lindzey?!_ "

"Al!"

It wasn't his sister, but Al spun round at the sound of his name. Zephyr broke out of the crowd, followed by Zach and Roz.

"What's going on?"

"I lost her."

Zach groaned in frustration, "Why'd you have to bring her?!"

"Now's not the time, Zach!" Zephyr snapped at him then turned to Alonzo to reassure him, "We'll find her. There's four of us, we can cover more ground."

"No way, you guys need to get out, too. She's _my_ sister, I can-"

Zephyr grabbed Al by the shoulder, staring him down, " _We're helping_."

He wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Alonzo, Zephyr, Zach and Roz all took off in different directions, making sure to dodge the patrol's flashlights as best they could. Al did feel at least some level of relief knowing his friends were searching too, but he couldn't help also feeling guilty, for letting Lindzey out of his sight as well as for dragging the three of them into his problem. She was _his_ responsibility, and he had practically forced her to come. He should've just stayed home with her...

He came to a grinding halt when he heard a faint whimpering behind a nearby pillar and when he looked, there she was. She was huddled on the floor, her knees drawn to her chest and her head down. Al gasped in relief and knelt before her, reaching for her arm but she jerked away the second he touched her.

"Janook," he whispered gently, "Z'ag, zon zorog. Ag zu ru." _It's me, don't worry. I've got you._

She lifted her head and instantly clung to him, letting him pick her up. He heard Zephyr's voice call out.

"He's got her!"

He carried her as far as the hallway that led past the light garden, his friends quickly joining them, then put her down and pushed her ahead of him.

"Follow the guys, I'm right behind you."

She did as she was told, glancing back to make sure he was really there, and Al refused to lose sight of her again for even a second all the way to the hidden exit downstairs. Lindzey stumbled outside, finding herself in the abandoned parking lot behind the plant, surrounded by other zombies all checking in with each other. A few were missing, having unfortunately been caught, and she felt a sense of dread come over her at the thought that she could've been among them. Or Alonzo. The thought of either of them being kept in containment overnight had her shaking. And what their parents would say, and do, when they found out. What their dad would say to Al... Knowing him, this could be enough to convince him that she shouldn't see her brother anymore.

Her train of thought was interrupted when she felt a pair of arms engulf her and heard Al's voice, his chin on top of her head.

"Oh, Z, that was so close...!" he breathed then pulled away, keeping his hands firmly on her shoulders. He knelt down, "You good? Nobody caught you, did they? Nobody touched you?"

She shook her head, wiping the last traces of tears from her eye, and sniffed, "No. I'm OK."

"Good... Z, I'm sorry I made you come, that could've gone so much worse...!"

"It's alright, Al. I _was_ actually having fun before the patrol showed up."

"Yeah?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

"... So, you're not gonna tell Dad, right?" he laughed shakily.

"No," she echoed his laugh and hugged him again.

Zephyr, watching the two of them together from a short distance away, accepted Rizzo's worried coddling. He couldn't bring himself to push her away like he normally would. Not when he was watching Alonzo with his own sister.


	59. Zach and Diaz: Party - Part 2

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

And thus, Zaz is ready for their storyline!

* * *

Zach and Diaz

Party – Part 2

It was getting late now and the party was winding down. People were leaving but Zach was determined to at least explain himself to Diaz before the night was over. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he just let this go, which just proved how real it was. He'd never been so desperate to take back what he said to someone. He had always managed to pick himself up again after a rejection; it took maybe an hour, if that, of complaining to Roz or Al before he found another victim. But this time, he couldn't stand the thought of letting Diaz believe he was, well... just another notch in his belt, like Zephyr said. He could only hope he hadn't left the party yet.

He eventually spotted him alone, most likely waiting around for Zeke and Fritz or something. Zach jogged over.

"Diaz!" he managed to get his attention and stopped in front of him, "I just- What I said earlier, I didn't-"

Diaz waved a hand, "I know you didn't mean it, Zach. You were just being you."

He started to turn away but Zach followed, "No, no, no...! I _did_ mean it...!"

Diaz frowned in confusion, "You... what?"

"OK, not like that, but..." he stopped. He took a breath, his eyes closing for a moment, then locking on Diaz and he was stuck staring back at him, "I do like you. I'm just really, _really_ bad at being serious about this stuff."

It was like a switch had been flipped as Diaz froze. In an instant, he changed, turning more self-conscious, smiling shyly and brushing his hair aside in an attempt to look casual, which didn't work at all.

"You, uh... You never said anything. Like, not even the stupid pick-up lines. This is the first time you..." his voice lowered, "... actually flirted with me."

"It came as a shock to me, too, trust me, but..." Diaz's eyes were fixed on him, "I didn't wanna risk getting rejected by you."

He stood searching Zach's face for any sign that he might be joking, or just flirting like always, "You get rejected by other people all the time."

Zach shrugged and Diaz had to keep from melting under his soft gaze, "Other people aren't you."

He was stunned, to say the least, looking down as he struggled to cover his smile and the blush creeping onto his face, "Shut up...!"

Zach slowly grinned at the sight, coming a little closer, "Wow... Look at you. What is going on with you?"

His head snapped back up, "What?"

"You're _blushing_ ," Zach couldn't help sounding smug, "Gaz, did I do that?" Diaz turned away, still trying to hide, but Zach brought him back with a finger under his chin as he nodded in satisfaction, "Now, _this_... This is really cute."

Finally regaining his composure, Diaz rolled his eyes and pushed his hand away, "Stop it."

"You like me." The smile on Zach's face was completely genuine.

Diaz's usual cockiness returned in a sudden boost of confidence, "Maybe I do, so what?" he said with a flip of his hair.

"So, the one person who does want to date me is also the one person I never hit on? You really made me work for this."

"I didn't do anything."

"Exactly."

Diaz went quiet for a moment, "... You could've just talked to me."

"Except I'd panic and break out some lame pick-up line like I did before and..." he trailed off with a sigh, "You deserve better than that."

He couldn't read the look in Diaz's eyes, but he was sure it was good.

"Well, that's over with now, so..."

He looked Zach up and down, still showing no hints as to what he was thinking. It didn't take long for him to find out, though, as Diaz closed the gap between them and, to Zach's surprise, kissed him. He barely got the chance to respond, though, as Diaz stepped back after just a short peck. Zach blinked, his mouth hanging slightly open as he tried to process it.

"... Did that just happen?"

Diaz just laughed and went in for another kiss, this time bringing both hands up to Zach's face. Zach was quick to grip Diaz's arms and hold him there, following his lips when he pulled away again.

"No, seriously, is this real?" Zach honestly couldn't believe it, "Are you actually kissing me right now?" He got a coy smile in return.

"Not right now."

"You should be."

He did, of course, and Zach ran his hands down to Diaz's wrists and pulled his arms around his own waist. He then brought one hand to his neck and combed the other through his long hair. Until they both heard someone calling out.

"Dee...?"

Zeke caught sight of them just as they separated and stormed over.

"Zeke..." Diaz groaned to himself, tipping his head back.

"Are you kidding me?" Zeke asked with a huff once he was within earshot.

"What?" Zach frowned and Diaz moved to stand in front of his friend.

"Zeke, would you back off? It's cool, we talked."

"After he played you like he does everybody?"

"It wasn't like that. Come on, man, you're acting like my mom or something, chill."

Zeke looked from Diaz to Zach and back again, "... OK, what'd he do? Must have been good to send you crawling back to him that fast."

" _Zeke_!" he snapped, "It's not that big a deal, alright?"

Not wanting to leave Diaz to take this alone, Zach stepped in between them, "I _apologised_. That's what I did."

"And you think that's all it takes? I'm not about to stand back and watch you kick him to the curb soon as the next pretty face comes along."

Diaz gently pushed Zach aside, "I kissed him first, Zeke. He explained himself and it's none of your business what else happened," he paused and folded his arms, "Sorry, Zach, he gets aggressive."

"What am I, a _dog_?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Diaz smirked and patted his head, making Zeke curl his lip and thus proving his point, "Down, boy."

"Seriously," Zeke was looking at Zach, but he was talking to Diaz, "I'm not happy about this."

"It's a good thing it has nothing to do with you!"

Zach wasn't going to back down, especially not now that he knew Diaz liked him...

"Zeke, I'm not-"

" _Zip it, Fairmourn._ "

... But Zeke obviously had other ideas.

Zach faltered, "What is so wrong with him liking me?"

He didn't get an answer. Zeke turned to Diaz with a stubborn glare, "We're leaving."

"Who said I have to leave with you?" Diaz shot back.

"It's OK. I'll just go," Zach said quietly, throwing Diaz an apologetic look.

"You do that," Zeke said plainly and watched him start to walk away before turning to Diaz, "Come on. The others are waiting for us."

"... Fine."

The second Zeke wasn't looking, though, Diaz hurried to catch up with Zach and grabbed his hand, immediately getting his attention.

"I'll call you," he said with that same coy smile from earlier, "He doesn't have to know."

He kissed his lips one more time and took off again, leaving Zach speechless. That is, until Alonzo came bounding over, with Zephyr and Roz in tow. He threw an arm around Zach's shoulders and shook him excitedly.

"Dude, you _kissed_...! You and _Diaz freaking Muertos_ just kissed!"

"We _kissed_!" Zach repeated, turning to face his best friend as they grinned at each other, " _He_ kissed me! Like... four times...!" he paused for a moment and frowned, "Then Zeke decides he has to have a say in it."

Alonzo also frowned, "What's his problem?"

"Bet you're over him now..." Zephyr muttered under his breath just loud enough to be heard and Al rolled his eyes.

"I was never _into_ him."

Zach clapped his hands right in front of their faces, making them both jump, "This isn't about you guys! I don't think Zeke trusts me."

Roz raised an eyebrow, "Figure that out on your own?"


	60. Izabelle, Riza and Zadie: Origin

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Aaaahh, it's good to be back~

I've had a really rough time with writing these last couple of months. I was feeling really discouraged and unmotivated from a lack of response to my stories, especially to BG zombies stuff. I could barely even get myself to open a Word doc :/ I managed to ease myself back into it with this one-shot, though, because I actually had most of it finished ages ago and just needed a little help with the last detail, which I have krut09 to thank for...! I also have a new Zebelle Limelight ready to go as a thank you for her, it was originally going to be much longer but I cut it down to make it easier to write, and all of that is really helping me get back into it but I do still want to say, I would really appreciate more reviews...! It makes writing feel worthwhile! Even the smallest comment gives me the boost I need~

I'm ready to get back to writing now, I have other Limelights in the works, the backstory for Alonzo and his family is finding its feet, the third and final installment of Tattooed Mistakes will be coming in a little while aaaannnndd... I may be returning to the TV series fic...! I have some mixed feelings about how ZOMBIES 2 is looking, but at least it's driving me to write how I would want to see ZOMBIES continued!

But anyway, let's get back to Limelight!

Oh, also, the nickname "Necro" for Zed is fist-it-out's idea~ ;p

* * *

Izabelle, Riza and Zadie

Origin

At eleven years old, Riza Undergang was quite possibly the most unassuming child in all of Zombie Town. She was quiet and distant, and didn't really care to get involved with any of the other kids. Least of all Izabelle Graves and Zadie Reaping, the town's resident troublemakers. She came across a little bit creepy; she rarely spoke to anyone else but she had a tendency to stare at people. She was always lost in thought. No-one knew what exactly was going on in her head. She was so sensible, but so... _unnerving_...

Izabelle and Zadie tried to avoid Riza most of the time, but it was hard to hide from her. She just always seemed to pop up when they least expected it. And this time they _really_ weren't expecting it.

– LIMELIGHT –

The 'No Entry' and 'Danger' signs on the main entrance of the old Seabrook Energy Plant had gone ignored for decades; the chains on the door had been loosened enough to let a grown zombie squeeze through, but they were still there, and still seemed to fool the patrol officers when they came to inspect the area.

Normally, when Zadie stole or broke something, it was her sister's, and the worst that could happen as a result was being grounded. So when Izabelle heard a crash followed by a clattering of something hitting the ground and turned around to see her friend staring at her with wide eyes and a large sign in her hand, she was more than a little worried.

And very, _very_ angry.

Especially because the chains had come off with it.

Zadie offered her a weak smile, "... Oops?"

There was silence for a moment, then Iza practically screamed.

" _Zadie!_ "

"I just wanted to see if it would move!" she tried to defend herself.

"Well, great job, it _did_!" Izabelle snarked as she stormed over and yanked it out of her hand. She gestured with it to the chains on the floor, "You know how to put those back?" Zadie just shook her head, "This'll land you in containment for sure."

It definitely wasn't enough to send anyone to zombie containment, and it wasn't really that big of sa deal anyway, but they were too young to realise that, and getting locked up was the only punishment zombies ever faced for anything. The two of them argued back and forth for maybe a minute or so, thankful that it didn't look like anybody else had seen.

"You have to drag me into it every time, don't you?" Izabelle groaned a little too dramatically, "We _cannot_ get caught with this!"

Zadie slumped her shoulders and rolled her eyes, "So, what are we supposed to do with it?"

Iza paused, not sure what to say. When she opened her mouth, though, she was interrupted by a voice coming from behind them.

"You could always burn it."

Both Izabelle and Zadie spun round to stare in shock at Riza, who was standing a few feet away and had overheard their conversation. And literally just suggested _burning_ the evidence like it was nothing.

"... What did you just say?" Izabelle asked.

Riza shrugged, "Burn it?"

"... _Burn it_?" Iza's jaw dropped, "You know you're a zombie, right?"

"So?" when neither of them answered, she took a few steps closer, "Fire can't be _that_ bad."

"Have you ever even _seen_ a fire?" Zadie asked.

"From a distance, yeah."

"If you're talking about the fire that killed Necro's mom, you're not helping your case."

Riza tilted her head, smiling in a way that made both Izabelle and Zadie nervous. And it took a lot to make Izabelle nervous.

"That's what happens if a fire gets out of control. But if you can keep it in a confined space, it's safe."

"Would the chains burn, too...?" Zadie wondered out loud.

"I don't want to know," Izabelle snapped and turned back to Riza, "We're not starting a fire."

"Why not? Fires are nice. You know humans sometimes have mini fires _in their house_. Like, _on purpose_."

Zadie squinted, "I don't believe that."

"Oh, come on," Riza folded her arms, "It's not always a bad thing! It's warm, it's pretty..." then she grinned and nodded at the sign, "And it gets rid of evidence."

"Oh, my Z, who even _are_ you?" Iza almost shouted, "I thought you were this sweet, innocent little goody-goody and now you're saying you wanna set things on fire?"

"So, you're not interested? I've got a lighter right here."

The second Riza took it out of her pocket, Izabelle and Zadie jumped back.

This time, Izabelle did shout, " _Why_ do you have a _lighter_ , for Z's sake?! Where'd you get that?"

"I dunno. Found it?"

Zadie was staring at the item in her hand like it was going to attack her, " _Where?_ "

Riza shrugged again, "Don't remember. I've had it for ages."

"And... you haven't used it, right?" Izabelle checked, remaining cautious.

"No. Waiting for a chance to, though. Like right now."

"There's a lot of stupid things I would do," Zadie started, still not taking her eyes off the lighter, "But that is not one of them. I don't even wanna touch that thing."

With an almost condescending laugh, Riza waved the lighter around, "You don't have to be the one to _do it_ ," she said and Zadie flinched away. Izabelle, scowling at Riza, pulled Zadie back. She wasn't about to let either of them look weak in front of her, "It's my lighter. I'll burn it."

"You're _not_ burning it."

"If it gets rid of it, then what's the pro-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Izabelle had snatched the lighter from her hand and threw it over the barrier. Riza stared in the direction she'd thrown it for a second, then at her hand, still raised like she was holding it, then at Izabelle.

"... Do you know how hard it is to find those things?"

"Hopefully way too hard for you to ever find another one. More importantly, you know too much. You've seen us what happened, you're involved now. So you better come up with a way for us to cover our tracks, _without using fire_."

Riza smiled again and it still made them nervous, "That sounds like a challenge."

In the end, her solution was quite simple: bury the sign and chains, separately. Zombie Town didn't exactly have a lot of greenery (or any greenery) so the few patches of dirt left were easy to dig up, and the sign made a decent makeshift shovel. Once they were done, Riza stomped a foot down on the ground to flatten it again.

"I don't know if that's enough," Izabelle mused, her arms folded across her chest, "They could still find it."

None of them knew who 'they' were supposed to be but regardless, Riza was already calculating a plan.

"OK, I think I have an idea. Zadie, you got anything... hard on you?"

Zadie dug through her pockets, which always seemed to be laden with stolen items, and it didn't take long for her to find something – an old, rusty wrench. It had fallen off the back of Paizley's wagon as she passed by earlier that morning and why _wouldn't_ she take it? The second Riza saw it, she grinned and held out her hand. Zadie, curious, gave it to her without question and she took off back round the corner, leaving Zadie and Izabelle to chase after her towards the plant.

Once she was sure the coast was clear, Riza launched the wrench right through the window, a few feet from where the sign had been. As the glass shattered, Izabelle and Zadie both gasped, then shrieked with laughter. It didn't take long for them to understand what Riza was doing; framing someone else. The older zombies would assume this was the work of some teenaged humans vandals, and the zombie patrol wouldn't care about the damage done, so nothing would be done about it. They'd seen it happen before.

And out of that, the three girls got their first real taste of all-out chaos. Izabelle had always been easily angered and got a little rough at times. Zadie had always been impulsive and reckless. And it was becoming clear that Riza had always wanted an excuse to act on the crazy ideas she apparently had. They just needed an outlet.

Riza was already craving more and Izabelle and Zadie watched in awe as she continued her destruction.

"Zadie?"

"Yeah?"

"We've created a monster."

Neither of them moved a muscle. Riza was clearly enjoying herself. Zadie nodded once, her eyes wide with shock.

"Yup. Sure did," she muttered, then she suddenly seemed to light up and grabbed Izabelle by the shoulders, "Can we keep her?"

"Are you insane? Look at her!" Izabelle threw Zadie off and gestured towards Riza, " _Of course_ we're keeping her!"

It never occurred to any of them that nobody would really care, they were having too much fun. And it wouldn't take long for the three of them to develop a taste for causing damage like this, just for the hell of it.


	61. Zeke and Izabelle: Gross

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

As promised, here is krut09's quick little thank you Limelight for giving me the last pieces of the puzzle I needed to finish that Terrible Trio origin story, and giving me that little push I still needed to start writing zom fics again! This is very short, and it was originally going to be a Chanzie story with this little Zebelle scene at the end, but I had the Zebelle dialogue in my phone notes for _months_ and I thought it would be a good step forward to just finish this scene off and post it. But sooner or later, Chaz and Mackenzie will get a proper Limelight again

* * *

Zeke and Izabelle

Gross

Were they not aware of just how _disgusting_ they were being?

Chaz and Mackenzie hadn't been together much longer than Zeke and Izabelle and yet they were already at the same level of sickening sweetness as Bonzo and Bree. Or Zephyr and Alonzo. Hell, Izabelle would bet they could even go up against Zed and Addison. She turned away, rolling her eyes, and pretended to gag. Zeke frowned down at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Just look at them," Izabella glanced at him then nodded subtly towards Chaz and Mackenzie. She grimaced, "It's gross."

Zeke cocked his head and looked down the hall to see the other couple walking away. Chaz had his arm wrapped, a little awkwardly, around Mackenzie's waist and she was smiling up at him as he talked. They looked happy enough, and besides, practically everybody who knew them had been waiting for them to get together for _months_. Smirking, Zeke looked back down at Izabelle.

"You think that's gross?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

For a split second, Izabelle's eyes flickered up to meet his, then back down again when she saw his teasing expression. She tried to act like she hadn't seen, "Mm-hmm."

Then she felt his arm snaking around her own waist, and then his chin on top of her head, and her eyes bulged, "What are you doing?"

"Being gross, apparently," he swayed her back and forth a couple of times, testing his boundaries. She didn't resist, "You can tell me to stop any time. Or shove me off. Whatever."

But she didn't. In fact, she nestled closer to him, keeping a straight face, and Zeke smiled in satisfaction. After a minute or so, Izabelle tilted her head back against his shoulder, the tiniest hint of a smile tugging on her lips.

"Zeke...?"

She sounded almost hesitant.

"Yeah?"

She bit her lip and shook her head dismissively, wrapping her arms around his neck, "Nothing..."

She quickly kissed his cheek and relaxed into his side again.

 _... I love you..._


End file.
